Page:The parochial history of Cornwall.djvu/148

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106
BOTUSFLEMING.

leigh 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 the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 £.
1887
s.
0
d.
0
The Poor Rate in 1831 223 3 0
Population, in 1801,
210
in 1811,
237
in 1821,
297
in 1831,
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.