The following very extraordinary occurrence has taken place with
respect to the estate of Hatt in this parish.
A brother of the last Mr. William Symons went through his clerkship as
an attorney with Mr. Rashleigh at St. Austell. He there formed an
attachment to a respectable young woman, but in a situation of life so
much inferior to his own as to excite a violent opposition against
this marriage on the part of his friends. In consequence Mr. Symonds
suddenly disappeared; no trace could be discovered, nor was any
information received about him, either by his relations or by the
deserted object of his affection.
The elder brother died unmarried, and his sisters or their families
took possession of his property; till, about forty years after Mr.
Symonds had left Cornwall, a young man claimed the whole as his eldest
son, and finally substantiated his claim by the verdict of a jury, and
to the entire satisfaction of a full court. His father had disappeared
about the year 1780; he had employed himself in various humble, but
not disreputable occupations, married, and finally settled in
Liverpool, where he was accidentally drowned. His family then first
acquired, from inspecting his papers, any knowledge of Cornwall, or of
the stock from whence they were derived; they found his articles of
clerkship, with various letters and documents, which placed his
identity beyond all doubt, and the son now possesses the manor house,
with a fair private gentleman’s estate.
This parish contains 995 statute acres.
The annual value of Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 1887 0 0
The Poor Rate in 1831 223 3 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 210 | 237 | 297 | 279.
Increase on a hundred in 30 years 32.86, or nearly 33 per cent.
Present Rector, Rev. William Spry, instituted 1826.
This parish is said by Doctor Boase not to be favourable for
geological pursuits, the rocks being generally covered with a fertile
soil; they belong, however, to the calcareous species.