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Family at Rosedinnick
John Cornish Rodliffe was the second son of William Rodliff and Betsey nee Cornish, shown here with his parents and wife Lilian in about 1900.
William Rodliff (1836 - 1921) was the fifth son of Joseph RODLIFF and Jennifer PARKIN. He was baptised in the Bethel Chapel at Talskiddy, rather than in St Columb Church like all his brothers and sisters. He was farming at Rosedinnick in 1896. He made a will in 1913 which included the following provision: "I give to my grandson William George Rodliff the marble timepiece presented to me on my retirement from the volunteers" . Presumably he must have served in the St Columb Volunteers, 'G' Company of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, which was formed about 1850.
Betsey Cornish (1840 - 1911) lived her early years at the Village of Gluvian St Columb Major, the elder daughter of John Cornish and Harriet nee Trebilcock. John was a Carpenter in 1851 and Wheelwright by 1871.
Brothers and sisters
John Cornish had five brothers and a sister Kate, who died as a child. Three of his brothers were Farmers: William (1867 - 1950) at St Mawgan, Frank (1872 - 1954) at Trenoweth and George (1878 - 1954) at Rosedinnick. Harry (1874 - 1914) was a Warehouseman at the time of his marriage in 1900.
Thomas (1875 - 1955) was a Major in the Army.
"Uncle Tom in his teens ran away from the farm without telling anyone where he was going. A few weeks later the family received a letter from him at the barracks at Bodmin where he had joined the Army. He won seven medals, including the OBE for getting munitions and supplies to the front line under fire at Galipoli, and was mentioned in despatches. In about 1923, he was in charge of a shell filling factory at Bradbury Lines Hereford (now the HQ of the SAS); there were a over a million shells at the site. He was a pipe smoker."
[Gerald Rodliffe reminiscences] {The OBE is awarded for support roles not for combat.}
St Columb Major
Black's Guide to the Duchy of Cornwall, Eleventh Edition, 1879, describes the town:
"And now we ascend the hill to St. Columb Major (population, 2752. Inn: The Red Lion. Market-day: Thursday), 242 miles from London, 22 miles from Camelford, 12 miles from Bodmin, 6 miles from Port Mawgan, and 13 miles from Probus. A fine old town, on an elevated table land, with some good houses and a stately church. The Red Lion, too, is a comfortable hostelry, and its host is the son of Polkinhorne, the famous wrestler, the champion of Cornwall, and by many considered to have been entitled to the championship of the four west counties.
The Church is dedicated to St. Columb, an Irish bishop and martyr, and one of the disciples of St. Patrick, and not, as Camden says to St. Columba, 'a woman saint who was a virgin and a martyr'. .... The building was much injured in 1676 by an accidental explosion of gunpowder."
City of London
John Cornish started work in Gatley's Draper's shop at St Columb Major being indentured to both father and son Gatley. It was while he was working there that an "e" was added to the end of his surname because one of the Gatleys thought that his signature looked unfinished without! We don't know whether or not he finished his apprenticeship but he went to work in the silk trade in London at 22 St Paul's Churchyard. [This story is probably apocryphal because there are numerous records of the family name being spelt with an 'e' before this time.]
While waiting on Par station (the junction for the Newquay branch line which runs through St Columb Road) during a visit to his parents at Rosedinnick he met Lilian Rickard, presumably while she was on a visit to her grandparents at St Columb. He was a Warehouseman when they married in 1899.
He left St Paul's Churchyard in January 1902 to set up in business on his own as J. C. Rodliffe in Old Change. A few friends presented him with a fine clock as a parting gift. His business prospered and by the 1920's he was employing his three sons.
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