Nicholas Penrose (1839 - 1880)

Born 2 Mar 1839 in Gwennap, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Jane (Eva) Penrose — married 30 Jun 1866 in Wesley Church, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Descendants

Died 9 Jun 1880 at age 41 in Clunes, Victoria, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Ian Penrose [send private message]

Biography

Nicholas Penrose was born in Cornwall, England.

Nicholas Penrose was born on 2 March 1839 in the parish of Gwennap, near Redruth in Cornwall. ^[1] He was baptised on 4 March 1840 in the Wesley-Methodist Chapel, Gwennap. ^[2]
His father Nicholas Penrose and his mother Eiizabeth Shepherd had married a few years earlier in the Gwennap Church on 19 October 1835. ^[3] at the time of Nicholas's birth they already had a one year old daughter Elizabeth Ann who was baptised on 4 March 1838 at Gwennap church. ^[4]
At the time of their marriage and birth of the children, the Penrose's lived in Carharrack. This mining village is located about 2 miles from Redruth. Tin and copper mining was booming here at the time and Nicholas was employed as a miner.
The whereabouts of the Family is a bit of a mystery after this because they can not be found on the 1841 census. Nicholas Penrose was buried on 7th January 1847 at Gwennap at the age of 32.

By 1851 young Nicholas aged 12 and his sister Elizabeth Ann aged 13 are living with their 58 year old widowed grandmother Mary Shepherd and her children William (20), John (18) and Edward. All the children worked in the copper mines, the eldest 3 as miners and the youngsters as copper dressers. ^[5]
Copper dressing was the processing of the ore into a powder and was unhealthy strenuous work. The ore was washed and graded by hand. Dirty work that required knowledge and considerable concentration. 85 kg barrows were wheeled around by teams of two. The ore was then hammered by hand into pebbles and finally a powder. This was how the 12 year old Nicholas and his sister spent their working days.

At some stage Nicholas left Cornwall to start a new life in Australia. Possibly came via Valparaisso in Chile to Sydney arriving on 6 September 1865 aboard "Woodbine" .

His sister Elizabeth was already in Australia by this time. At Ballarat on 19 January 1856 at the age of 19 she married William Thomas aged 20 who was born in Brazil. A witness at the wedding was John Shepherd (her uncle ?) indicating that other members of Elizabeth's mothers family may have also been in Australia.

Nicholas married Mary Jane Eva in Ballarat on 13 June 1866.
Nicholas and Mary Jane had six children, Charles Nicholas, Albert Edward, Grace Eva, Arthur William, Edith Elizabeth, and Ernest Herbert who was born 16 February 1879.

Mary Jane was left as a 30 year old widow with a young family, the baby being only 18 months old, when Nicholas aged 39 was killed by a fall of earth in a Clunes mining accident on 09 June 1880.^[6]

Death Notice

"Family Notices" The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 - 1886; 1914 - 1918) 15 June 1880: page 2.

PENROSE.— On the 9th of June, at Clunes, Nicholas Penrose, miner, late of Gwennap, near St Day, Cornwall, aged thirty-nine years. Home papers please copy. ^[7]

Enquiry into Death

"CLUNES." The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 - 1886; 1914 - 1918) 12 June 1880: page 4.

Mayor Meyers presided at an enquiry yesterday into the cause of death of Nicholas Penrose, who was killed the previous day in tbe South Clunes mine. A verdict of accidental death was returned, no blame being attributed to anybody. ^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Birth Record: General Register Office for England and Wales (Birth Index): Name: PENROSE, NICHOLAS| Mother's Maiden Surname: SHEPSHERD (sic) [SHEPHERD] |GRO Reference: 1839 March Quarter in REDRUTH UNION |Volume 09 Page 259
2. ↑ record of Baptism No 180
3. ↑ page 136 Record of Marriages Gwennap 1835
4. ↑ The Families of Nicholas Penrose and Elizabeth Shepherd researched by Rachael Eustice of Cornish Cousins December 2013
5. ↑ 1851 England Census
6. ↑ Victoria Pioneer Index 1837-1888 Ref No 3781
7. ↑ Death Notice: Family Notices (1880, June 15). The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 - 1886; 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved January 29, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article250050325
8. ↑ Enquiry into Death: CLUNES. (1880, June 12). The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 - 1886; 1914 - 1918), p. 4. Retrieved January 29, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article250050254

See also:

• Research by Rachael Eustice of Cournish Cousins December 2013
• Letters from Brent Richards to Ian Penrose October 2000. Brett had marriage and death certificates for Elizabeth (Penrose) Thomas

• Baptism Record: "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQYF-J42 : 4 February 2023), Nicholas Penrose, 1840. Name Nicholas Penrose | Sex Male| Father's Name Nicholas Penrose| Father's Sex Male| Mother's Name Elizabeth| Mother's Sex Female| Event Type Christening| Event Date 4 Mar 1840| Event Place Carharrack, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom| Event Place (Original) Wesleyan Methodist, Carharrack, Cornwall, England

• Free UK Genealogy "General Register Office: 1841 Census Returns database", FreeCEN (https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/59029096e9379091b1761a7b : accessed 28 Jan 2024) [data about Elizth PENROSE in household of Geo MARTIN]; citing Piece: 137 Place: Kerrier Enumeration District: 15 Civil Parish: Gwennap Ecclesiastical Parish: - Folio: 26 Page: 2 Schedule: Address: Pennance.

• Free UK Genealogy "General Register Office: 1851 Census Returns database", FreeCEN (https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5a143c8ef4040b9d6e2ba1af : accessed 28 Jan 2024) [data about Elizabeth A. PENROSE in household of Mary SHEPHERD]; citing Piece: 1914 Place: Gwennap Enumeration District: 2r Civil Parish: Gwennap Ecclesiastical Parish: Gwennap Folio: 347 Page: 21 Schedule: 80 Address: Carharrack.