A-Z Challenge- Surnames

Letter D- DUNN

The interesting DUNN FAMILY OF VERYAN, CORNWALLThe interesting DUNN FAMILY OF VERYAN, CORNWALL

The DUNN family in our tree is fascinating. In a previous post I spoke at length about Martha Dunn who also went by Mary Chapman and Ethel McEwen. She lived to be 101 1/2 and emigrated to Canada in 1910 with her lover (and previous employer) and their 2 daughters.

She seems to have come from a long line of interesting characters!

Her father was Richard DUNN who married Alice ROWE. They were the typical couple living in Veryan, Cornwall at the time (mid 1860s). They were labourers and worked hard trying to earn a living on various farms. They never owned their own homes, they just worked on them.

Alice Dunn was well loved in the community and her obituary shows this.

Her husband William’s life began with a rough start. He was born THE DAY AFTER HIS FATHER DIED on October 9th, 1849. His poor mother  Elizabeth (nee Elliott) must have gone into premature labour because of what had happened the day before. William’s father, Richard, was only 26 years old when he died. He was an alcoholic and his death was reported in the local paper. The following article starts with “A WARNING”…..

Richard DUNN met with a horrible end and HIS father was Matthew DUNN who only lived to be 46 years old. (His tombstone is the one on the left of my husband in the previous post).

Matthew’s father Charles DUNN who was married to Elizabeth CURGENVEN also managed to find himself written about in the local paper. He had 3 sons. In this 1828 newspaper clip you see them mentioned..

The above son Henry  DUNN decided it would be a good idea to steal money from his father on Christmas day and his father Charles (our ancestor) took him to court. It caused quite the sensation!

Continued below….

And finally, here is a photo kindly given to me from someone depicted this very same Henry DUNN who committed this crime!

Henry DUNN

The DUNN family lived in Veryan as far as records were kept with the first direct DUNN ancestor of ours being Henry DUNN who died on November 8th, 1717 in Veryan. He was married to Joan PILL.

The Cornwall Old Parish Records are amazing and are free to look up if you have Cornish ancestors. Here is the link:

http://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/