Alfred Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin FSA (29 October 1900 – 20 August 1980) was a Cornish bard [1] [2] and historian with a particular interest in Cornish mining, publishing The Cornish Miner, now a classic, in 1927.
He was born in Redruth on 29 October 1900, the son of Alfred Hamilton Jenkin, and his wife, Amy Louisa Keep. He attended University College, Oxford, where in 1919 he became a friend of the famous author, C.S. Lewis: both were members of the Martlets Literary Society. He graduated as M.A. and B.Litt. at the University of Oxford.
Jenkin was a founder bard of the Gorseth Kernow in 1928, taking the bardic name Lef Stenoryon ('Voice of the Tinners'). [1] He was involved in persuading Cornwall County Council to set up Cornwall Record Office in the 1950s, and served on its committee until his death. [3] In 1959 he was elected President of the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, a position he also held in 1960 and in 1962 he became its first life President.
He was elected President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall for the years 1958, 1959 and was vice-president in 1977.
In 1954 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and was awarded his honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Exeter in 1978.
He married Luned Marion Jacobs (2nd daughter of W. W. Jacobs, the famous humourist) and had two daughters: Jennifer Hamilton Jenkin and Honor Bronwen Jenkin. The marriage ended in divorce and his second marriage was to Elizabeth Lenton.
He died 20 August 1980 at Treliske Hospital, Truro [3]
Cornwall is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised by Cornish and Celtic political groups as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Devon to the east, and the English Channel to the south. The largest urban area in the county is a conurbation that includes the former mining towns of Redruth and Camborne, and the county town is the city of Truro.
Penzance is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about 64 miles (103 km) west-southwest of Plymouth and 255 miles (410 km) west-southwest of London. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay, the town faces south-east onto the English Channel, is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn, to the north by the civil parish of Madron and to the east by the civil parish of Ludgvan. The civil parish includes the town of Newlyn and the villages of Mousehole, Paul, Gulval, and Heamoor. Granted various royal charters from 1512 onwards and incorporated on 9 May 1614, it has a population of 21,200.
Stannary law is the body of English law that governs tin mining in Cornwall and Devon; although no longer of much practical relevance, the stannary law remains part of the law of the United Kingdom and is arguably the oldest law incorporated into the English legal system.
St Just, also known as St Just in Penwith, is a town and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies along the B3306 road which connects St Ives to the A30 road. The parish encompasses the town of St Just and the nearby settlements of Trewellard, Pendeen and Kelynack: it is bounded by the parishes of Morvah to the north-east, Sancreed and Madron to the east, St Buryan and Sennen to the south and by the sea in the west. The parish consists of 7,622 acres (3,085 ha) of land, 12 acres (4.9 ha) of water and 117 acres (47.3 ha) of foreshore. The town of St Just is the most westerly town in mainland Britain and is situated approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Penzance along the A3071. St Just parish, which includes Pendeen and the surrounding area, has a population of 4,637. An electoral ward of the same name also exists: the population of this ward at the same census was 4,812.
Gorsedh Kernow is a non-political Cornish organisation, based in Cornwall, United Kingdom, which exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall. It is based on the Welsh-based Gorsedd, which was founded by Iolo Morganwg in 1792.
A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from the ore cassiterite mined in the region. In Cornwall, the duty was passed to the Duchy of Cornwall; in Devon to the Crown.
Chacewater is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Redruth. The hamlets of Carnhot, Cox Hill, Creegbrawse, Hale Mills, Jolly's Bottom, Salem, Saveock, Scorrier, Todpool, Twelveheads and Wheal Busy are in the parish. The electoral ward is called Chacewater & Kenwyn. At the 2011 census a population of 3,870 was quoted.
John Coulson Tregarthen was a Cornish field naturalist and author, described as "the best loved Cornishman of his time".
Constantine is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately five miles (8 km) west-southwest of Falmouth. The electoral ward also bears the same name but includes Budock Water and the surrounding area. At the 2011 census, the population of the ward was 4,709 and the population of the civil parish was 1,789. The parish of Constantine is bounded by the parishes of Mabe, Mawnan, Gweek, Wendron and the north bank of the Helford River.
Mining in Cornwall and Devon, in the southwest of Britain, is thought to have begun in the early-middle Bronze Age with the exploitation of cassiterite. Tin, and later copper, were the most commonly extracted metals. Some tin mining continued long after the mining of other metals had become unprofitable, but ended in the late 20th century. In 2021, it was announced that a new mine was extracting battery-grade lithium carbonate, more than 20 years after the closure of the last South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall in 1998.
The Cornish Main Line is a railway line in Cornwall and Devon in the United Kingdom. It runs from Penzance to Plymouth, crossing from Cornwall into Devon over the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash.
Cornish mythology is the folk tradition and mythology of the Cornish people. It consists partly of folk traditions developed in Cornwall and partly of traditions developed by Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium, often shared with those of the Breton and Welsh peoples. Some of this contains remnants of the mythology of pre-Christian Britain.
Antony Charles Thomas, was a British historian and archaeologist who was Professor of Cornish Studies at Exeter University, and the first Director of the Institute of Cornish Studies, from 1971 until his retirement in 1991. He was recognised as a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth with the name Gwas Godhyan in 1953.
The Truro and Newquay Railway was a Great Western Railway line in Cornwall, England, designed to keep the rival London and South Western Railway (LSWR) out of the west of the county. The line was completed in 1905 and closed in 1963.
Richard Garfield Jenkin, was a Cornish nationalist politician and one of the founding members of Mebyon Kernow. He was also a Grand Bard of the Gorseth Kernow.
The Ding Dong mines lie in an old and extensive mining area in the parish of Madron, in Penwith, Cornwall, England. They are about two miles north east of the St Just to Penzance road and look over Mount's Bay and St Michael's Mount to the south west. Since 2006 the site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, part of Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall: Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall is also a royal duchy of the United Kingdom. It has an estimated population of half a million and it has its own distinctive history and culture.
Kernow is a bus company operating services in Cornwall, England. It is part of First South West, a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Presented below is an alphabetical index of articles related to Cornwall:
Bert Biscoe DL, also known by the bardic name Viajor Gans Geryow, is a Cornish politician, historian and bard of the Cornish Gorseth. Biscoe represented Cornwall Council's Truro Boscawen District as an independent Cornwall Councillor until 2019, serving as an independent Truro City Council Councillor for the new Boscawen & Redannick Ward.