I am beginning my travel plans for a trip to Cornwall and Devon mid-June 2017 for about two weeks, and I need help from people who are interested in genealogy. I am also a Thomas Hardy fan, plus goodness knows I read "Rebecca" and "Jamaica Inn" as an adolescent. "Doc Martin" has been on my watch list; however, I'm not sure that my husband is in that groove.

My husband's great great grandfather was born in Altarnun, Cornwall, and emigrated to the US in around 1860. This ancestor's mother came from a decent family who resided in Altarnun for centuries. In contrast, his father may have spent quite some time in Bodmin Gaol for non-support of the family.

I myself have people who came from Honiton, Devon and my husband also has ancestors who came from Devon. I have connections in Bridgwater, Somerset and Tipton, Dudley, too. I have a lot of peeps from Wigan, but I can leave that connection for a different time.

So let's add this to the mix:

We don't want to drive a car.

I do know there are companies that do the genealogy thing. If you have had experience, I'd love to hear from you.

Thoughts????

Always grateful for this board,

AZ

You can most likely find the formal records (birth, marriage, death) online through Ancestry (the Bodmin Gaol archives are certainly on Ancestry), or in the county records offices (which will also have websites). Not sure what else you might want to find, but it's possible there are burial records now online, and there is certainly a British newspaper archive online including local papers. So you could amass quite a bit of information before you leave home and work out what visiting the actual locations might offer in addition.

Just turning up in a small village is likely to be a bit hit and miss as to finding any useful information.

Thanks Patrick.

Actually, I've been pretty solid on the data research. I am just interested in how I could meet my needs in touring Cornwall/Devon without a car from people who may have matching interests.

Again, I've found Cornwall tour companies who know who to contact; I would love to know, "Is this worth it?"

For my husband's ancestors, I had to start with misspelled names on an old US death certificate and was able to backtrack inch by inch. The old guy never gave the same information twice.

Luckily, through DNA, we have connected with cousins in Australia (and it's SCARY how much my daughter looks like the females in the family). The Bodmin Gaol ancestor was a complete scad, and still, even though this Aussie group is from is second, more or less simultaneous, family, the genes certainly came through.

As Patrick says, Ancestry.com is a good resource for finding old records. You should also be able to find your ancestors in old census records, once you've found out where they lived. Census records for the UK are now mostly online, although records within the last 100 years are not made public.

I've managed to find some previously unknown relatives in Ireland through a DNA test with www.familytreedna.com . They offer several kinds of tests, but the most useful one for finding relatives is the "Family Finder" test, which is also the cheapest. The other tests, for MtDNA or Y-DNA turn up connections that might result from a mutual ancestor over 1000 years ago.

As you can see by our crossed posts, bvlenci, "Been there, done that." DNA has been registered with all companies; ancestry.com be me. BillionGraves and FindAGrave have been great. Know Fold3.com and Newspapers.com quite well now. I know every Cornwall website by heart.

Heck, I can now take my husband's family back to 1536 with some confidence.

But I am interested in anyone who has connected with tour companies who can take one to physical sites. I have found websites for those who do it. I just need people WHO HAVE DONE IT.

I do NOT want to rent a car. I am more than willing to UBER, bus, rail, and I'm pretty good at that stuff. I just need to hear from people who have done it.

the company used by one time fodorite Toucan2 might be able to help:

http://www.tourcornwall.com/the-grea...ors/4559818670

as I understand it, he will organise a tour to fit in entirely with your particular requirements. A day with him might in the end be quicker and cheaper than trying to get around for several days by public transport.

as for other resources, have you come across this:

http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/community...ary/?page=3743

Might prove useful.

BTW, no Uber here in Cornwall.

Trains, buses and ordinary taxis, plus shanks's pony.

The major UK-based family history site is Findmypast, and they have data which is not on Ancestry and vice-versa. You may also want to look at The Genealogist, which has tithe maps you may find helpful.

As well as Patrick's suggestion of the various archives and record offices, don't forget the family history societies for Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, and also Cornish Forefathers, another website for those with Cornish ancestry. I have no particular knowledge of the variety and whereabouts of resources for this area, but am aware that Cornwall in particular has a large and enthusiastic diaspora which has ensured that a lot of information is available.

When you come to Somerset, can I recommend Knowyourplace (http://www.kypwest.org.uk/) which has maps of various dates and references to historic sites with photographs. Coverage varies tremendously. It does include Bridgwater and the whole of Somerset, but there is much more detail for Bristol (where the website originated) and Bath. Some stunning maps of Bath have recently been added. The maps can be superimposed on one another, so you can see how areas have developed.

I have doubts about how feasible it will be to visit villages by public transport, or what you will find when you get there. Many churches in rural areas are normally locked, and gravestones for poor people seldom survive, if they ever existed. I am sure you would have no problem in hiring a car and driver for a day, although that may not be cheap. You will probably be diasppointed in not finding things you hoped to see, but pleased with the unexpected. You are unlikely to meet descendants of your ancestors - people moved much more than is realised, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Thank you, all of you, but I fear my actual question got lost in my unclear original post--starting the planning of any trip always generates brain storming that should become a bit more focused before I start typing here!

So here is the essence of my query:

I really just wanted to know if anyone has used the various Cornwall tour services that are specifically geared towards genealogists and how those services have worked out. I had found two online via Google a few weeks ago, and I also am pretty sure that one other "we tailor to you" company might work. I was hoping someone might have already had some experience with any of them to report. I had already planned to make appointments at both the Cornwall Record Office and at the Cornwall Family History Society for the few records I have not been able to obtain online, and at least one of the companies I found online is willing to make those appointments for me.

I have NO need to meet possible relatives!

I have belonged to a slew of online resources for over three years now, including such organizations as "FindMyPast", and have found more and more parish records, etc are going online every day that do not require paid subscription. Thus, I can track my husband's roots not only in Cornwall but also some further away centuries before in Guernsey and Jersey. The online tithe records, which are amazing, Chartley, were in fact the means by which had I found my own folks in Honiton, Devon.

However, we really want to get a sense of place that can only be gotten by standing in the footsteps of these folks. I have a short list of the various churches where the ancestors were christened and married, most of which ARE still operating and are open to tourists, I am happy to report.

As I implied in the original post, I then must integrate those sites and potential services into a broader Cornwall/Devon itinerary, one that I still intend to undertake without using a car hire. I just have to figure out what stretches to do by train, which to do by bus, and which to do by taxi. And by the way, you DO have UBER in some Cornwall cities. You just may not know it.

As a side note: I am quite lucky in that I personally knew my relatives from Tipton. Five siblings in my grandmother's family came to the US; five stayed behind. They all remained close in heart. I visited the English group when I was a teenager, and several visited us in the States. I had been unaware, however, of their Devon roots, and although I have visited much of mainland England and Scotland over the years, I have never been to Devon or Cornwall. So this will be quite exciting for me.

So back to my main question:
IF you have used genealogy tour services in Cornwall, I'd still love to hear about your first-hand experience.

Thanks so much for your help!
AZ

AZ
Have you looked at the website https://www.british-genealogy.com/

You do need to register, but the advice is fantastic and free of charge.

Maybe one of the experts there lives in the areas you are interested in visiting, or has visited them from other UK home bases.

I've asked some really tricky questions on this site - ones that were complete 'brick walls' - and had helpful accurate advice.

Family history travel is quite fascinating and enlightening!
Di

di2315--I cannot believe it! This is one website I have NOT used. And it's a style I like. The old Rootsweb (absorbed into Ancestry now) still provides me with crucial nuggets because people suggest trails.

Like you, I always loved history, and this has been so much fun. My mother passed away recently, but in the two years before she died, I was able to write her stories about different "characters" in her family history--stories she never knew--and we'd take "field trips" so see where some of these people were born or made their lives.

My favorite story is that of her great great great aunt, the oldest sister in the first American-born "litter" of Ulster Ireland parents. She was a real tomboy who could outrun, outride, and outshoot her brothers. She eloped with the strongest man in the county (after all, who else could compete with her?) to the wilds of Minnesota Territory, then beat off locusts and drought on the plains of Kansas.

Thomas Hardy is mostly Dorset which he called Wessex but which he re-defined as a smaller area than historical Wessex. Here's a fairly recent article on Hardy sites.

This author drove but am guessing you might find small tours originating in Dorchester or Bridport. The area is just beautiful in spring and summer, all year really. Let me know if you plan get over that way, I can try to dig up the name of a very nice b&b where we stayed, just on the edge of Bridport and on the coastal path.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...-10206569.html

CathinJoeTown:
While I would love to have added Dorset to my itinerary, I can not. I taught English for years, and one of my favorite presentations was showing the kids Hardy's "Wessex" and translating a beautiful map I had to real places in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.

In fact, when my husband and I first married, I had mapped out a Thomas Hardy/Jane Austen exploration trip. It had to be cancelled because of a stupid business conflict (my husband still has to hear about it), and we never did it!