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I have a question about this family. It seems to be a Cornish family, and during my researches I’ve found two strands of family leading to Polkinghorn ( otherwise spelt Polkinghorne ).
My question is, are they related to each other, or is it just coincidence they’re both the same surname?
It’s a very unusual name
One branch on my wife’s paternal grandfather s side comes from Perranuthnoe and Crowan. I’ve got back to Ralph Polkinghorn ( 1735-20/12/1781) who married Christian Rodda on 24/8/1760. Their son was Asdrubel (1767-1846) , and his daughter Elizabeth 1799-1874 was my wife’s 5x grandmother.
The other branch on my wife’s maternal grandmothers side was Edward Polkinghorn born 1724 who married Anne Jenkins ( 1733-1816) at Illogan, Cornwall on 5/2/1754. This branch of Polkinghorns lived in Illogan area. His daughter Ann 1756-1820 married Thomas Carthew (1752-1820), my wife’s 5 x grandfather.
I can’t find any connection between the two families, and the further back you go the harder it is, but it was just curious the two branches had the same named ancestors.
I’m just wondering if anyone has any ideas about how I could find out?
Thank you.

Look in 'search all member trees'.

Try to contact tree 'owners'

Many of us find that two strand of our ancestors eventually join up when we get far back ............. think small villages, or 3 villages in a small geographical area.

It does sometimes lead to a marriage between first cousins, which might make you think!

So I wouldn't rule out that your two strands are somehow connected before 1700 ...... you just have to keep digging, and returning to internet sites as more and more records are posted online.

Thanks both of you. I’ve checked the members trees Erika and contacted a few people, so hopefully that might uncover something.
I wasn’t sure if there would be any records that far back. I know I traced relatives in Madron, Cornwall with a history of Madron book available online, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for these small villages.
Glyn :-)

there are several trees on ancestry for edward with different parents names but none have any documentary proof and a tree on family search website

I suppose it’s so far back in history that unless your family was wealthy there won’t be much evidence, so I may not get a definite answer. It’s worth a try in case someone has a family Bible or suchlike

It isn't quite the same as yours, Glyn, but I have a similar story.

I can trace one of OH's direct lines all the way back to 1725, with documentation from Parish Records for the early years, certificates later.

He has a distinct surname, although it has been spelled in 3 different ways down the years, and his forename and those of his children are repeated down the generations to today. All generations down to about 1900 had the same occupation .......... millers and farmers. Most were more or less openly Quakers

He came from a small area in northern England.

Two generations earlier, a man with the same forename and surname, from exactly the same area and with the same occupations went to America with William Penn ........... they were Quakers escaping persecution.

That man's descendants and ancestors have been very well traced and documented by his descendants. They do not have descendants of his siblings left back in England (perhaps for the same reason that we've found).

My problem is that there just HAS to be a connection between him and "my" guy. There are several of us who have been looking, but there is a gap here in England that we just cannot seem to close.

Ever hopeful!!!

Glyn .............

Have you done any checking on FreeReg??

There seem to be a lot of transcriptions of Polkinghorn/Polkinghorne

You might also consider looking for PolinghoM/PolkinghoME, as "rn" is quite often mistaken by transcribers as "m", especially if the handwriting is difficult to read.

https://www.freereg.org.uk/

I haven’t been on Free Reg Sylvia, but I will definitely check it out, and thank you for your personal experience as well
Glyn

Someone on MyHeritage has this family. You can search freely but you have to be a member to view information. They do have a 14 day trial, which is free though, so you could try it out to see if you can make a connection.


Edward Polkinghorn

MyHeritage Family Trees
Loy Evans Family Tree in Loy Web Site, managed by Wendy Loy
Birth: Day Month 1724 - Place
Parents: Names of both parents
Siblings: Henry James and names of 10 more siblings
Wife: Name of wife
Children: Ann Carthew (born Polkinghorn) and names of 4 more children

...........................

There are also several people who have Ralph in their trees so could very well be worth taking a look.

Thanks Catherine. I will :-)

Have you used the Cornish OPC site?
http://cornwall-opc-database.org/home/

There are also images of Parish registers on the Family Search site

No Kense I haven’t. Sounds helpful too. I’ll check it out.
Thank you
Glyn

just posting for info incase it's useful:-

Christian Polkinghorne (born Rodda) was born in 1739, at birth place, to Matthew Rodda and Mary Rodda (born Davey).
Matthew was born in 1722, in Crowan, Cornwall, England.
Mary was born circa 1724.
Christian had 4 siblings: James Rodda and 3 other siblings.
Christian married Ralph Polkinghorne.
Ralph was born in 1735, in Crowan.
They had 7 children: Hannah Bucket (born Polkinghorne), Christian Polkinghorne and 5 other children.
Christian passed away in 1811, at age 72 at death place.

That’s very useful. Thank you Catherine