THE CORNISH IN MEXICO

The State of Hidalgo in Mexico is covered with numerous reminders of its centuries old mining heritage. The village of Real del Monte lies high up on the edge of the Sierra Madre, a hundred kilometres from Mexico City and nine kilometres from the city of Pachuca and in that village there is a very special burial ground called Panteon de los Ingleses.  There are over 650 graves in this remarkably scenic and peaceful place, most commemorate Cornish men and women. When Mexico won the War of Independence from the Spanish colonialists in 1810 the ancient silver mines were in a neglected state and needed not just capital but new technology, particularly the steam engine to remove water from the flooded mines and haul up the ore from deep depths.

With great foresight, the new Republic opened the market to foreign mining ventures. In 1824, four ships sailed from Cornwall with over 100 Cornish miners and 1,500 tons of mining equipment. Landing on the Atlantic coast of Mexico the Cornishmen with a caravan of over a thousand mules made the arduous 300 mile trek inland up into the Sierra Madre mountains over 9,500 feet above sea level. Almost a year later the party arrived in the run down town of Real del Monte.  Almost half of the party had died on the trek.

By 1826 there were ten foreign mining companies operating throughout Mexico. The Cornish, leaders in mining technology and with a work force prepared to travel the world to practice their mining skills were involved in all these ventures. Traces of the Cornish may be found all over Mexico but they have a special relationship with the Pachuca / Real del Monte region. For almost one hundred years Cornish miners worked, married, had children and, if they did not return to Cornwall, moved on to other ventures or died in the region. They left a legacy not just found in the mining heritage but in the culture and society of the region.

The CIP survey (which was conducted in 2001) recorded in detail all the surviving headstones in this “Cornish” cemetery in Real del Monte. Other memorials in the region as well as Mexican written records were consulted. The index therefore includes extracts from Mexican Civil registration of births, deaths and marriages. Also included are extracts from the Mexican British Consulate records of deaths. A British cemetery did exist in Mexico City, it has now been moved (the remains of the buried were exhumed and moved to a new Garden of Rest, the original burial ground is now a roundabout in central Mexico City) and therefore no individual headstones survive, but extracts from the burial records which refer to Cornishmen have been extracted.

The Cornish in Mexico were also remembered in their home country. Memorials to people who died in Mexico but which are located in Cornwall are included as are some records from Cornish news papers and census records. So many people in Mexico assisted me during my visit to their country and this is really not the forum to acknowledge them all. Invited to lunch at the home of a teacher and ‘Cornwall’ researcher (and he really is an expert) in Pachuca a tingle ran through me when I heard the expression “My home is your home”. Thank you Victor.

Over 2700 Cornish names are recorded in the CIP Mexican Register.