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Probus
Probus maps
Historic maps of Probus and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Probus maps
Probus area books
Displaying 1 of 16 books about Probus and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Probus
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Cornwall memories
Post Office
My gran ran the post office from before I was born, her name was Mrs Pooley. When she retired my Uncle Eric and his wife Dorothy took it over until they too retired. I visited the village about four years ago when I found that the post office had been renovated into a private dwelling. The owners of the property very kindly allowed my sister and I to have a look around, it bought back a lot of lovely childhood memories. Forge Cottage, next door, was where my gran lived with her daughter and her family, David, Peter, Geraldine, and my mum Mavis. My mum moved up to Nottinghamshire where she met my dad. They married in the village church across the road in 1953, I was christened in the village church on Boxing Day 1954.
Sixpence of Aniseed Balls
I spent much of my childhood with my grandmother Kathleen Lemmon in Lower Park. My brother, sister and I spent our pocket money at the Pooley's post office and shop on the right.
Penlee Stores, Fore Street, Tregoney
I was born in the same bedroom as my father at Penlee Stores, a little shop (now long gone) opposite Penlee House. My grandfather started the business, he was what is termed a hawker. He travelled the Roseland peninsula selling from his horse and cart anything anyone wanted or needed. His name was Stephen James Lidgey, known as Steve Lidgey. When he died, my father Leo Lidgey took over the business, and he and my mother ran it for many years.
The Lidgey name has now gone from Tregoney but in my childhood there were many who bore the name Lidgey. The first Lidgey in Tregoney was a George, born in Redruth in 1735, who married a Tregoney girl, Jane Dyer, on 30th September 1755 at St Cuby Church. My sister still lives in Tregoney with her children, under her married name. I, after my divorce, returned to my maiden name Lidgey. I was born a Lidgey and I will die a Lidgey.
Tregony Clock Tower
The clock tower has two dates on it - one from the original building, and one from when it was restored. Apparently the village council sold the clock to a visiting Australian who wanted to take it back to his country. The villagers were outraged, dismantled the clock overnight, and hid it in a local field for twenty years until they were sure it was safe. Ealing comedy via Cornwall! I lived in the house in the photo, so the clock is very dear to my heart.
Town Clock
I am tracing my family history, and one of the stories that I have come across is that one of my ancestors Richard Eva 1734-1806 made the clock for Tregony, and have been told the story that it was hidden to save it from being sold to Australia, I was also told that the clock survived as part of a pigsty on a farm and was found in 1961, but was found too late as it had recently been sent to a scrap yard.
Childhood Memories
My granny and grandfather owned this house also, we always called it Fairpark House. My grandfather's brother hanged himself in the back kitchen. My granny died there. I know the house very well. My gran, two aunts and uncle lived there. I have many, many happy memories of Fairpark House. It was called Isis House when my granny bought it. I remember everything about the house and gardens. Chickens were kept in the old Fairpark field behind the house. I loved feeding them with Uncle Stan or Aunty Win, and collecting eggs. What happy times.
My Ancestry
I traced my family ancestry to St Stephen in Cornwall as far back as the 1500s. My husband and I visited England in 2005, and spent some time in Cornwall. As an Australian of several generations, I am fascinated to know where the various branches of my family have come from. Everyone in Australia originally came from another part of the world. I have some surnames in my family history which are from St Stephen and St Dennis. I searched both cemeteries for headstones bearing my family names; Trethewey and Kent. It was a great thrill for me to find many headstones, including one with the same name as my father, Fred Kent.
From family records, most of my forebears were tinners. I was interested that the mining area seemed to be china clay. My ancestor who originally made the journey to Australia in the early 1800s, Nicholas Kent, and his wife, Loveday (Trethewey), was listed as a master shoemaker.
It was an amazing and heartwarming experience to... Read more
