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All the modern ARGALL families originate from the early
families living at Madron. How did they spread to other
parts? Well, family legend has it that the two brothers, John and Martin Argall, left home in 1724 from Madron
travelling eastwards on, it is reputed, mules. It is not clear why
they left, but the family tradition of passing the farm on to the younger/est
son may have had a bearing because their younger brother, William
, was increasingly (following the family
tradition) managing the farm. They probably received their
inheritance at this time. Moreover, the increased opportunities for
employment caused by the expansion in tin and copper ore mining, as well as
farming elsewhere, may have lured them away. Although they only
travelled to St Allen, north of Truro, – a distance of 28 miles – there were no
roads and very few tracks; the journey would not have been easy.
Nevertheless, the two brothers reached St Allen/St Erme and obtained
employment. They lived there for some years and both married local
girls, and produced offspring; it is from these two brothers that the bulk of
ARGALLs alive at the end of the 20th century are descended, although in
Australia a few ARGALLs in the Adelaide area of South Australia come from the
remaining Madron stock directly.
Around 1735, the two brothers and their families moved a few miles north to Perranzabuloe nearer the North
Cornwall Coast. An increasing involvement in mining caused
John’s children’s expanding families to move into St Agnes (circa 1780),
whilst Martin’s families moved on to St Newlyn East around the same time.
Branches of their descendants subsequently moved further into the Redruth
area, which was then an expanding mining town. These families
followed the traditions of the time in breeding a large number of children, many
of whom sadly died before they were 5 years old.
The copper mines peaked in production around 1770, and ore prices peaked around
1790 to 1800. This period gave additional opportunities to provide
agricultural support to the new workforce, and the ARGALLs were there involved
with both. Further opportunities for employment, in both farming and
mining, led to movement of the families into the St Columb region (both Major
and Minor), Illogan and Truro. At the beginning of the 19th Century,
some of the families seem to own the land upon which they lived and worked, or
had shares in the new mines. As the century progressed, and what
wealth was left in the families was dissipated; others – both in mining and the
supporting industries, were increasingly renting/leasing their
homes. By the middle of the 19th Century, the majority of working
ARGALLs in Cornwall were employed in mining, with very few remaining in
agriculture. The others were turning to different trades – farmers,
cordwainers (custom shoemakers), ale brewers, and simple labourers – all are
appearing in the records.
The opportunities for this further employment in agriculture and mining were
not to last. There were several factors that led to a decline in the
Cornish economy during the 19th century. Firstly, after the end of
the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the price of corn started to fall, which – together
with other factors – led to subsequent rioting in Cornwall as income was
affected. The added potato famine during the ‘hungry forties’ was
not confined to Ireland; Cornwall was just as much afflicted. By the
early 1840s, there was a general shortage of food, and prices were forced up
again. In response to this, in 1846 the ‘Corn Laws’ were repealed, the
price paid for corn reduced and the cost of agricultural produce fell – and with
it, the wages paid. This affected those working on the land before
it impacted on those working in the mines. Emigration was the
result.
The first to emigrate were the land workers, and the earliest ARGALLs to
migrate were those employed in agriculture. Secondly, by the middle
of the nineteenth century, tin ore could be extracted much more cheaply
elsewhere in the world – especially in the Far East and the developing nations
of North America and Australia. As a result, the Cornish Mining
Industry experienced a series of increasingly heavy blows as the 19th Century
progressed, and the price of Tin and Copper continued to fall
dramatically. Many mines in Cornwall were forced to close; the
resulting effects upon the economy were quite severe, and mass emigration of
miners followed those who had left the land. Between 1861 and 1900,
almost 45% of Cornwall’s male population aged between 15 and 24 emigrated at
this time, with a further 29% moving to other English counties, and they took
with them both their mining skills and such other skills allied to the support
of the miners.
The ARGALL families were deeply involved in this emigration, which was the
single most influential event, which led to the present global distribution of
the family. Most of these emigrated in the period 1840 to 1890;
whilst the majority of these went to North America and Australia, others moved
within the British Isles. For example, one John Argall moved to
Lifton in Devon to work as a miner, and founded a new branch, which eventually
moved into Somerset, where his descendants still live. Others moved
to London and Hampshire, and into Wales and Ireland following the general trend
to seek work. Very few stayed on in Cornwall. Moreover,
some of those who did emigrate moved on again – sometimes to entirely different
continents. The ARGALLs were spreading on a global basis; during the
second half of the 19th century, they had spread into the emerging economies of
Australia, Canada and the United States, following the general move of the
Cornish. The path of the present global distribution was to be set
forever.
By the end of the 20th Century, just over 50 people bearing the ARGALL surname
were living in the United Kingdom, although two different Argalls had migrated
back to England from Australia. By the beginning of the 21st
century there were 55 ARGALLs counted in the UK’s 2001 Census; of these only a
dozen or so remain in Cornwall. Those that remain in Cornwall are
centred on Redruth and Truro. The majority of the remainder are
predominately in Somerset, and others are scattered throughout the North of
England, the Midlands and the Home Counties. In common with most
other countries, the modern trend for mobility has spread the remaining family
more thinly within a single generation.
Ian Argall © 2006 - 2008
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