Introduction
This family history was compiled by Michael and Trevor Rescorle. The aims of the project were to trace the origins of the name, to identify the male line as far back as possible, to record details of family members and to research the various off-shoots i.e. families who married into the Rescorle line. Many members of the family contributed by providing details to enable the history to be as comprehensive as possible - their help was invaluable. However, it is incomplete and if anyone has the time and resources to continue there are a number of areas that need attention. We would be delighted to them get started.
We have traced the origins of the name back to 1311 and as of January 2009 the male line goes back to John Rescorler who married Margery Jestick in Helland, Cornwall in 1755. We have been unable to verify John's parents so the line stops there. However, by a process of elimination we believe his father is John Rescorla born circa 1700 and his mother Aves or Avis (maiden name unknown) born again circa 1700. As you will see from the following paragraphs, research around another contender, Pharez Rescorla who was born in 1696 and sired a son called John in 1724, is ongoing. We have not had time to complete extensive research into all those who married into the Rescorle line e.g. Batten, Folly, Williams, Northcott, Phillips and Collins, to name just a few, but as a result of research completed by other families we have traced the Haleys back to 1576 and the Trevithicks to 1618. We have not had time to trace the lives of daughters after marriage, but work continues. There is much work to do and again, for those who have the time and inclination, we would be happy to get you started.
Family Tree
In December 1999 the number of Rescorles known to our immediate family was very small - about 36 people . While we could trace the male line back to William Henry Rescorle who was born in Lanreath, Cornwall in 1854 and many of us knew his son William Thomas who died in 1960, many questions remained unanswered. Did they have any siblings? If so, what happened to them? A cursory search of the telephone directory produced others with similar surnames e.g. Roscorla and there was talk of emigration, but hard facts were difficult to find. Today the family tree stands at 1,135 names covering 18 generations and includes 334 marriages, 359 families and 311 different surnames. We have traced the male line back to 1755 but as mentioned earlier, we have been unable to identify the preceding generation so the line stops there. However, we have access to information going back to the 1500s, so we might be able to extend the male line back to the reign of Henry VIII in due course. The family history is held on a piece of US software called Family Tree Maker UK v8 produced by www.ancestry.co.uk. The master copy is held by Trevor and it will run on any IBM compatible PC. We have collected over 120 birth, wedding and death certificates spanning the period 1838-1994 which are also held by Trevor.
Origins
We have been sent a number of letters and emails and seen a number of documents
about the origins of the name. Some suggest it is French and we have seen
evidence of place names resembling Rescorl and Rescorler along the French coast
in Brittany. Others have suggested that it is Spanish or Portuguese but we can
find nothing to support these claims. Having looked at all the reference material
it is our belief that the name is solidly Cornish born out of locality and
rooted in the language and culture of Cornwall (Kernow) for at least a thousand
years.
The Cornish are native Celtic British and evidence suggests they have lived in
Britain for the last 6,000 years. The Cornish language, which along with Welsh
and Breton separated from the old British language, has probably been around for
at least 1,500 years (the similar origins of Cornish and Breton explains in-part,
the place names in Brittany). Cornwall was once an ancient Kingdom and one of
the main kingdoms in these islands. See www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornovii for a
summary on Cornwall and its origins. The Cornish border, which runs along the
river Tamar, was established in AD932 and this still marks the border with Devon
and therefore, as far as the Cornish are concerned, with England. The English
influence in Cornwall increased soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066 and the
language went into steady decline surviving only in isolated westerly outposts
until about 1750.
We believe that the nearest we can come to understanding the modern origins and
usage of the name for the past thousand years, is to refer to the version offered
in A Handbook of Cornish Surnames by G Pawley White i.e. that the name derives
from the Cornish language based on locality;
Ros-corlan heath of sheepfold
Res-corlan ford of sheepfold
Our research shows that the earliest known mention was in 1311 when Reskorlan, a farm near St Ewe, was mentioned in the Arundel Charter. Forty nine years later Rescorla, a village near St Austell (see www.rescorla.org) was mentioned in the Assize record of 1360. We have visited both locations and they seem to corroborate this view. The approach road to the farm crosses the site of an old ford and the farm and the village are on old heath-land areas. Indeed, large areas of Cornwall were heath-land until about the 1700s. This accounts for the prominence of Ros in other Cornish surnames i.e. Roskilly and its inclusion in the old rhyme;
By Ros- Car-, Lan-, Tre-, Pol-, Pen-
Ye may know most Cornish men.
Ros; heath
Car; fort/camp, pile of rocks, earthwork e.g Carveth: camp of the horses
Lan; pool/enclosure e.g.Lansallos: enclosure of St Salwys
Tre; homestead e.g. Treloar homestead with garden
Pol; pool e.g.Polglaze: green pool
Pen; end e.g. Penberthy: end of bushes
What about accent and pronunciation? In Cornish names the accent comes usually, though not always, on the second syllable; so the proper pronunciation is Res'corle with the 'c' being a hard 'k' rather than a silent 's'. And what happened to the Cornish language? As mentioned earlier, the language began a steady decline soon after the Norman Conquest and English had probably been accepted as the native tongue as far west as St Austell by about 1500. Cornish, an old Celtic language, was in common use in West Cornwall until about 1750 but the last known speaker is believed to be John Davey who died in 1893. Its demise is linked not only to the gradual encroachment of English but to the Reformation and in particular the Prayer Book Rebellion which took place in Cornwall and parts of Devon in 1549 (a memorial to the rebellion can be found on the site of the old Glasney Monastery near Penryn). Until Henry VIII fell out with the Pope over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, Cornwall, like the rest of England, was what we would call Roman Catholic. The rebellion was the Cornish people's way of showing their indignation at tinkering with their religious life i.e. the conversion to Protestantism. Despite raising an army of 6,000 and besieging Exeter the rebellion failed and the leaders, such as Sir Humphrey Arundell, were executed. Once the English Book of Common Prayer was in use the language went into decline. Had the prayer book been translated into Cornish, as it was in Welsh, then it might have survived as a native tongue well into the 20th century. A language revival is in progress and those interested should go to www.cornishlanguage.co.uk for further details.
First Use
When was Rescorle first used as a family name? This is the million dollar question. It is unlikely that we will ever know - there simply isn't enough information to say for certain. The earliest mention in any genealogy record is about 1550 but it may well have been in use before that date. It is possible that all the various branches (40 different spellings of the name have been identified) originate from 2 families - one with the prefix Res and the other Ros. However, a word of caution, the spelling has changed regularly over the centuries, both between areas of the county, within families and between generations. In the mid 1700s the current Rescorle branch were named Rescorler but 100 years later the 'er' had been dropped only for the 'e' to be reinstated in about 1900. In one list of a family from the late 1700s 5 children had 4 different spellings of their surname. Despite the mix of spellings, we believe that the Rescorler, Rescorl, Rescorle line is separate from those beginning with Ros or any ending with 'a' i.e. Rescorla from at least 1700s. Quite why this is so we do not know but it may have something to do with the 2 place names and perhaps that's where it all started. However, there is widespread geographical dispersion of the prefix Ros and Res in Cornwall and given that it is a name born out of locality coupled with the prominence of hills and heath-land in the county, families may have grown up all over the place.
Our research has thrown up many interesting facts, unusual names and provided a unique insight into how the economic situation in Cornwall forced many to emigrate in the late 1800s and 1900s. We have traced family members to all corners of the globe and found thriving family groups, though not all retaining the name, in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and America. These were completely unknown to us and one of the most satisfying aspects of this project has been finding relatives who have been lost to the family for over 100 years. There are a number of families in Canada and America and even some in the UK that ought to be followed up to see how they form part of the clan. Alongside the global dispersion has been great stability with some families continuing to live within sight of Rescorla village (which is now close to the world famous Eden Project) while others have maintained links with villages close by e.g. our own branch of Rescorle has been associated with Lanreath since the 1790s spanning 6 generations.
One of the most unusual names to crop up was Pharez Rescorla and we continue to delve into his origins because he could be the missing link that will enable us to go back beyond the 1730s. Those of you who read the bible will know that Pharez (Perez) was the 13th grandfather of Jesus and his entry into the world is recorded in Genesis 38. The grandson of Judah, he was one of twin boys (his brother was Zerah) and it has been suggested that his was a breach birth because when translated into Hebrew Pharez means 'a breach' or 'breaking out'. Pharez Rescorla was born on 21 October 1696 in St Neot. He married twice. Sarah Grills in 1718 and there were 4 children (2 died in infancy). Given that divorce was very uncommon in those days, we assume Sarah died because he then married Jane Rescorla in 1740 and had a further 3 children (all died in infancy). Whether Jane was a relative or the widow of a brother we may never know. Interestingly, Pharez's mother was called Jane and as there is no record of his father it could be that he was born out of wedlock. Quite why he was named Pharez is a mystery. St Neot was the site of a long established monastery and a religious centre well into the Middle Ages, so perhaps his family were religious folk. Was his also a breach birth? We cannot link him to our male line but he had a son called John (b 23 March 1724 in St Neot) and it could be that he is the John Rescorler who married in Helland in 1755. However, as a word of caution, we are trying to verify evidence that Pharez's son died in 1731 so that would rule him out. There are also 4 other Johns of similar family name from that period, so this is all guesswork. Also, as mentioned above, the fact that his name ends with 'a' may rule him out of our male line.
Service
The Rescorle family has been rooted in the culture of Cornwall for centuries. Evidence suggests that 800-900 years ago our ancestors were Yeoman - those who were placed in the pecking order between the landowners and tenant farmers. We cannot find any prime ministers or famous people in our lineage, but the family has given extensive service to queen and country. We have traced 11 who were killed in the two World Wars and are buried in Commonwealth War Graves in the Somme and Singapore. Others, including a 70 year old women who died as the result of a German attack on Penlee in 1941, are buried in various sites in the UK. We are aware of many others, including those from commonwealth countries, who served in both wars. Many of them were badly wounded. Several have served since 1945 and 2 completed full careers as professional servicemen. The tradition continues right up to the present day with one serving in the Royal Navy. The records show that 3 members of the family have been honoured for military service; one was awarded the Légion d'honneur or Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, the highest decoration in France, for his exploits in Normandy in 1944. Two others have been mentioned in despatches - one for service in World War 2 and the other for counter terrorist work in the 1980s.
Summary
We have enjoyed piecing together this family history and trust that it will serve as a talking point about the origins and backgrounds of the family for future generations. We would be delighted to share the various family trees and discuss the evidence we have collected.
Michael Rescorle & Trevor Rescorle
Camborne, Cornwall
January 2009
michaelrescorle@hotmail.com
trevor@trescorle.freeserve.co.uk