Thanks Fiona in England & Rob on the Isle of Man. They’ve provided all sorts of extra info & photos. Currently working through & (with their permission) will incorporate into forthcoming posts.
Now… Over to Cornwall!
Quick recap:
Before covering the career of Captain Matthew Grose (1819 – 1887) on the Isle of Man, we’re going for a change of scenery. Back over to Cornwall & Somerset where his grandfather lived & died.
You’ll recall his grandfather was also called Captain Matthew Grose (1761 – 1824) & was the brother of Samuel Grose senior (1764 – 1825). Both baptised in Redruth, Cornwall.
They’re on documents as Mine Captains running Dodington Copper Mines in Somerset for many years. In 1788 we see these two brothers on a mining venture in Loxton, Somerset & both baptising their children there, at the parish church of St. Andrew.
They worked at mines in both Somerset & Cornwall. This other blog post covers their careers & family in more detail.
This Matthew Grose (1761-1824) is the father of Matthew Grose (1788-1849) – who migrated to Foxdale, Isle of Man with his wife & children in 1828.
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Graves at St Gwinear:
One of many ‘Wow!’ moments this week was receiving photos of graves, memorials & transcriptions from family history researcher, Fiona. She’s kindly given permission for these to be posted here on the blog.
Each grave will be written about on a separate post, because they all contain key pieces of information.
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The Parish Church of Saint Gwinear, Cornwall:
The small village of Gwinear sits on a hill overlooking the Angarrack valley. It’s about three kilometres east of Hayle, Cornwall. There were many mines in the area.
Image of St Gwinear Church, Cornwall © (Posted with permission of image owner: Fiona)
At the church there are four main churchyard areas. According to the church website, during 2017, a project is ongoing – to research, record & map ALL burials & memorials there. It’ll be interesting to revisit these records at a later date.
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Photograph of Matthew Grose’s Memorial:
Image of Memorial in Gwinear, Cornwall © (Posted with permission of image owner: Fiona)
Transcription provided with photo:
SACRED
To memory of
Captain Matthew Grose
Who died in Doddington in
Sommersetshire the 24th day
Of August 1824 aged 63 years.
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And Jane his wife, who died
April 28th 1841 Aged 80 years.
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Also William their son who
Died the 1st day of April 1818
Aged 21 years.
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And Grace their daughter
Who died February 20th 1818
Aged 19 years.
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Firstly, Matthew Grose:
The above transcription shows this as a memorial for Captain Matthew Grose who died in Dodington, Somerset on 24th August 1824 age 63.
The West Somerset Parish Register Transcriptions show his burial record in Dodington as:
Matthew Grose, 11th May, 1824, age 64.
On Findmypast, the Cornwall FHS memorial transcription from Gwinear gives the information as Mathew Grose, 21st August 1821, age 63.
Some slight differences in these records & transcriptions, but nothing too drastic! Confident all refer to same individual.
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His wife, Jane Grose:
This transcription gives her information as April 28th 1841, Aged 80 years
This compares closely with her obituary from April 1841:
At Goldsithney, in Perranuthnoe, on the 23rd instant, at the house of her son, Capt. John Grose, Mrs. Jane Grose, aged 80 years, relict of the late Capt. Matthew Grose, formerly of Gwinear, and of Dodington in Somerset, much regretted and respected by her numerous family and friends. Her end was peace.
On Findmypast…
The memorial transcription also gives the information as Jane Grose, age 80, death date 28th April 1841.
Assume this is her death index record (from England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007) because Goldsithney is in the district of Penzance. It shows:
Jane Grose: Death quarter 2, 1841, Penzance, Volume 9, Page 126
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William Grose:
The transcription above says died the 1st day of April 1818 Aged 21 years.
On FindMyPast…
Memorial transcription gives 17th April, 1818, Age 21
Burial transcription at Gwinear: 3rd April, 1818, Age 19.
Checking his baptism transcription, we see William Grose baptised in Gwinear on 27th December 1801 to parents Matthew and Jennifer Grose. This is reassuring that the ‘theory’ of Jennifer and Jane being the same person is holding up.
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Grace Grose:
This transcription gives February 20th 1818. Aged 19 years.
On FindMyPast…
Memorial transcription: 20th February 1818, Age 19
Burial transcription: 21st February 1818, Age 17
Checking her baptism transcription, we see Grace Grose baptised in Gwinear on 27th December 1801 to parents Matthew and Jennifer Grose. At the same time as her brother, William – again ‘evidence’ that Jennifer and Jane are the same person.
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Is Matthew’s wife, Jane or Jennifer Grose?
Apparently Jenny was originally a common ‘nickname’ for Jane. Perhaps that’s why her name varies on records as Jane, Jenefer, Jennifer, Gennifer etc. No marriage record has been found for a Matthew and Jennifer Grose – only Matthew and Jane.
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Who’s actually buried here?
- Their children? Probably. Both age 20-ish, William and Grace, have burial records in 1818 for Gwinear, so are likely buried here. How sad (and strange) that they were baptised at the same time & died within a few months of each other. Coincidence? Illness? An accident?
Their older brother, (our Matthew Grose (1788-1849)), would likely have attended this burial service in 1818. He was still in the Hayle/Phillack area (baptising own children, Mary in 1817 and Matthew in 1819).
- Matthew Grose? No, this is a memorial for him. His burial record is in Dodington, Somerset. 1821 or 1824? Is there a gravestone in Dodington (All Saints Church?) in addition to this Memorial in Gwinear?
Our Matthew Grose (1788-1849)), might have attended this burial in Dodington, Somerset in 1824. He was in Dodington in 1821 (baptising son, Thomas). Also his son, John, was born (in ‘England’) around 1824.
- Jane Grose (nee Williams)? Possibly. No burial record found yet for Jane. She could be buried here in Gwinear with her children. She died in April 1841 in Goldsithney, Perranuthnoe (Penzance district).
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Phew!
So a few questions answered & few more things to find out! As always, please comment or contact if spot any errors, or have useful advice or info.
The next post will look at another interesting gravestone at St Gwinear, Cornwall.
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Further reading and useful research sites:
http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Par_new/e_g/gwinear.php
Adventurous Ancestors 
Great interesting info as per usual.Thanks K.
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Yes, useful stuff on these graves & memorials. Up to now it’s been confusing with what seemed like conflicting records, eg, A record for Matthew buried in Dodington Somerset, but another record for his ‘grave’ in Gwinear, Cornwall. Starting to make a lot more sense now!
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Being a big Doc Martin fan, I enjoy reading about Cornwall!
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I haven’t watched that yet – is it based on books? Likewise, love reading anything set in Cornwall. Always loved Poldark – even more so now from researching real Cornish Mine Captains from the 1780s!
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Searching marriages in Cornwall data Base between 1700-1800, I got, Matthew Grose & Jane Williams, 21st April 1783, at Redruth, is this them?
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Brilliant. Yes, that’s exactly what I have too. On Cornwall OPC database it lists witnesses as Robt. Williams and John Cock.
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