The Population of Cornwall

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England's re-population after the Little Ice Age started around 9,000 BC from immigrants from the continent. Population peaked during the Roman period and declined after the Romans left in 410 AD.

In the Domesday Book of 1086 there are about 1,700 villeins, 2,400 bordars, and 1,100 serfs, seven tenants-in-chief, 97 sub-tenants, clergy, a few half-freemen, resulting in a total of about 5,700 males from which a total population of about 29,532 is derived.

In 1204, the Cornish paid King John the sum of 2,200 marks to rid themselves of the hated Forest Law which had preserved a great part of the county as a royal hunting ground. New tracts of land were hence freed for reclamation. Hundreds of new farms came into existence. Population growth was interrupted by the Great Famine of 1315.

The population peaked in 1348 after which the population decreased by two thirds because of the Black Death in 1350.

During the early 1800's there was a devastating collapse in the Cornish economy resulting in a mass emigration called the Cornish Diaspora. About half of those who left Cornwall during this time period moved elsewhere within Britain and about half emigrated overseas. It is estimated that 250,000 Cornish migrated abroad between 1861 and 1901 with miners making up a large portion. The miners emigrated to mining areas in the United States, South American, South Africa, and Australia.

In the 1960's the migration pattern reversed and an ongoing migration from other parts of England continues up to the present day.

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