INTRODUCTION
This is a record of known details about our family, all descended from William Repper of Crawle, a small hamlet in the parish of the village of Breage in Cornwall. It is the result of the hard work and generosity of many members of the family, now scattered across the world.
The Ripper or Repper family of Cornwall have a history that goes back about 500 years and eighteen generations. The family has not produced any notable public figures but this does little to distract from its interest, at least to living members of the family. The members of the family presently number over 5,000 people across the ages and their lives reflect the social conditions of the times.
There are farmers, miners, gardeners and paupers. There are scientists, teachers, adventurers and soldiers.
Some of the family left their native Cornwall to live in other parts of Britain, in Australia, in New Zealand, in Canada and in the United States of America. Ripper family members are now to be found in many parts of the English speaking world. Given that their original tongue was probably Cornish it is a pity that the language has been lost to the family.
The earliest known migrant from Cornwall was in the late 18th century when Alexander Repper travelled to London as part of the Cornish militia and stayed there. Movement around Cornwall was common in the 16th to 18th centuries and there are branches in other Cornish towns and villages such as Redruth, St Stithians and Gunwalloe.
Cornish archived records, like many across Britain, have significant gaps where registers and papers have failed to survive the rigours of time and history. The most frustrating gaps occur at the time of the English Civil War in the mid 17th century. There are enough surviving records, however, to enable the reconstruction of a family history.
THE RIPPER SURNAME AND OTHER RIPPER FAMILIESThe surname is seen in various forms. Repper and Ripper are the most common but other spelling variants such as Riper, Rippere and Rypper have been noted. Throughout this document I have tried to use the variant recorded as being used by the person themselves, or interpreted by the clerk recording the name on their behalf.
There has been much speculation regarding the origin of the name. It is usual for surnames to have been derived from either the occupation or the place where folk lived. Many people did not have surnames before about 1500. This was not an essential attribute for farm workers and general labourers who did not need much formal or legal identification such as the progenitors of the Ripper family.
Some family members had an alternative surname as can be seen with John Ripper or Cariohall (meaning "of Crawle"), John Ripper or Singer (probably a singer in church or known for his singing) and even a Mary Ripper or Kelly - merely demonstrating the as yet unrefined rules for the growth and use of surnames.
There has grown, independently from the Cornish Ripper family another family of the same name in East Anglia. Debra Ripper is researching that family and she has traced the family back to Elvedon in the mid-1500s. One of the descendants of that line, Richard Stirley Ripper, has shown that the name may derive from an association with the word 'wood'. In various European languages, he informs me, the root 'rip' or 'hrip' means wood or plank or has connections to carpentry.
I have received a letter which suggested that there were seven brothers who came from Germany and settled in Cornwall. I have seen nothing to support this, other than the incidence of the surname Ripper in Germany which also goes back to the 16th century.
The standard text in the Oxford Dictionary of Surnames shows an Adam le Ripiere in Berkshire in the mid 1400s. It also gives the origin of Ripper as being either a basket maker or fish carrier but no reasoning for this.
In Cornwall there are two places called Barripper (near Camborne and Falmouth) and one called Berepper (near Gunwalloe). The standard text on the history of place names suggests that this could be old French for 'beautiful place'. I have no evidence to indicate that they lived at any of these places. It is as easy to suggest that the early Cornish Ripper family seems to be a farming family and as reaping by reapers is an activity practised as a part of that occupation, that this is the derivation. This is an issue which will not from this distance in time ever be satisfactorily resolved.
THE EARLIEST RIPPER FAMILY IN CORNWALLThe 1543/4 Subsidy Rolls for Breage in Cornwall record a William Repper being assessed in the value of 2 marks. From 1560 onwards there are many entries of baptisms, marriages and burials of Ripper/Repper family members, indicating the presence of the family from 1540 onwards, and potentially even earlier.
In 1561 there is the burial at Breage of Joan Rypper of Cariurrall (Crawle). In 1582 is recorded the burial of Joan Ripper wife of William Ripper.
The William Rypper in the muster rolls I believe to be the husband of Joan who was buried in 1561.
William and Joan were the parents of William, John, Benedict, Thomas, Gyles and Elizabeth who are the ancestors of the Ripper family of Cornwall.
CRAWLE (otherwise recorded as Crohall, Cariohall etc)Although Crawle is mentioned in the Domesday Book and is now regarded as a "lost" settlement, its connection with the Ripper family has not yet been traced to a time earlier than the early 1500s when it was the home of William Repper and his wife Joan. When Joan was buried in 1561 she was recorded as Joan Rypper of Cariohall.
In a lease of 1780 a tenement described as "All that messuage or dwelling house heretofore built by William Repper deceased with the garden thereunto belonging............and late in the possession of Elizabeth Repper deceased but now of the said Benjamin Thomas all of which were formally hedged or inclosed in by the said William Repper deceased out of Trenwheale Downs and is part and parcel of the Manor of Godolphin." (Leeds Papers Reference DD RH 1756). This may well be Crawle. Although it existed back into Domesday, it was enclosed in the middle 1500s by William Repper.
It has not shown on maps since the late 1800s and was then shown as Crawle. This was the final spelling of a name which has existed since before being recorded in Domesday in 1086. At that time it was known as Cariahoil. The name is derived from 'caer' meaning "camp" and 'iorchell' meaning "roebuck".
The site can still be identified as field boundaries and small remains of low walls amidst nettles and brambles.
The land forms part of the farm of Trenear. Trenear farm has passed through the hands of the Duke of Leeds, the Trevaskis and the Adams families and is now owned by Willie Goldsworthy and his mother-in-law (27th October 1995). There are transfer documents in the County Record Office showing the various conveyances of the land in the 1800s.
Today, just to the north of the site of Crawle (modern usage), stands a windpump which draws water which is pumped uphill to a feeder tank which supplies clean fresh water to Trenear. The windpump is marked on Ordnance Survey maps at location SW617313.
Crawle is best approached from Godolphin Cross, taking the eastbound road from the crossroads in the centre of the village. The road drops down to Ruthdower Cottage and then rises up the hill past Trenear farm entrance on the left. A few hundred yards further on, again on the left, is the entrance to Treleggo farm. Immediately past this on the opposite side of the road is the northern end of a lane leading towards Polladras, called Crohall Lane in 1647.
Travelling south along Crohall Lane, the second gate provides access to Crawle. The plot is triangular, roughly equilateral, the 30 yard stretch on Crohall Lane forming its eastern boundary. The western point of the triangle looks towards Tregonning Hill on the skyline. Just a couple of fields to the west of Crawle can be seen the remains of the engine house of a mine.
Crawle itself can be recalled as being in existence by Willie Goldsworthy around 1935, but the buildings had disappeared following a fire at some time in the late 1930's. He can recall them as being of cob construction (mud & dung & straw etc) and the roof level of the single floor building as being very low. There were two additional out houses - a cow shed and a barn. It seems there are no current plans to farm or develop this piece of land.
In "Cornwall and Its People" by A K Hamilton Jenkin there is a description of a typical Cornish home of the sixteenth century and includes earlier contributions from Richard Carew. It reads as follows ..
"Both in outward appearance and in the scantiness of their furnishings such houses can hardly have differed much from the hovels described by Richard Carew as long ago as the middle of the sixteenth century. At that date, however, 'walls of earth, low-thatched roofs, few partitions, no planchings (wooden foors) or glasse windows, and scarcely any chimnies other than a hole in the wall to let out the smoke: their bed, straw, and a blanket', and their furniture a 'mazer and a panne or two', comprised the substance of even the better class of Cornish husbandman."
A K Hamilton Jenkin also records the content of " ...one of Mr Bottrell's folk tales. Herein a certain Aunt Betty describes to a visitor the way in which her family contrived to find sleeping accomodation at night. 'The babies' she remarks, 'I do put in the costan (straw basket), the smaller ones get up on the talfat and stretch themselves in the bed, around the bed and under the bed as they like.' The talfat, to which Aunt Betty referred, consisted of a stage of boards placed immediately under the roof, and extending over one half of the living room. Sometimes the former was screened off by planks nailed from its flooring to the key beam above; but more often it simply had a railing, placed so as to prevent anyone from falling into the room below. 'Then look' continued Aunt Betty, 'at that little bunk in the top of the wood corner. That was the one which Tom (her husband) made out of some wreck timber the other day so the boys might have a place to themselves. As you see, he put in two strong beams to reach from the wall-plat to the other side of the chimney, and then put some planks upon them. To be sure the place isn't so deep as it ought to be for the boys to stretch out full length; but what matter? They like it well enough, and their legs hanging down over when they have a mind to stretch will make them grow all the longer!"
The manor court of Pengwedna was sometimes held at Cariohall but more often at Prospidneck in neighbouring Sithney, probably for convenience.
The lease of Cariohall was granted to William Ripper and John Ripper on 16th January 1577. This was probably a change of leaseholder following the deaths of the lives upon which the orginal lease was secured when Crawle was first enclosed.
In January 1586 John's son, John, married Constance Squire.
On 24th October 1586 the Court Rolls show that John & William Ripper surrendered the lease on the tenement in Cariohall and a new lease was granted to John Ripper, his son John Ripper and Constance Squire, the daughter of Richard Squire, deceased.
No longer being on the lease of Crawle, William and his family took the lease of Ruthdower Mill, just two fields away. More details of Ruthdower are contained in the notes of William Ripper who married Pascasia Trenwheale.
On 28th January 1607 the Breage registers record the baptism of Stephen Ripper, son of John Ripper of Craholl.
A list of tenants in 1640 shows the name of Thomas Ripper, Stephen's elder brother, and his tenancy is well documented later in this document.
Shortly after Thomas' death Crawle was occupied by his sons Edward & Daniel. Following Edward's death and that of his wife, Blanch in 1703, the ownership of Crawle was transferred to Nicholas Tyacke. The last family entry of any type which mentions Crawle was the death of William Ripper in 1712. He was Blanch's son-in-law. William and his wife English were the last two occupants of Crawle, being 4th cousins one to another and both being direct descendants of William and Joan, with whom this story of Crawle began.
The Ripper occupation of Crawle ceased sometime after 1712.
BREAGEBreage is named after St Breaca, to whom the parish church is dedicated. She was an Irish missionary from Ulster or Leinster who arrived in the area around 500 A.D. and settled on Tregonning Hill, overlooking the village of Breage, at a site near Trew. The nearby farm of Penbroc means "settlement of Breaca".
Following the Norman conquest of the 11th century the area was held by the Earls of Cornwall who gave Breage and its manorial chapels of Germoe, Gunwalloe and Cury to Hailes Abbey in Gloucestershire. At that time the church is identified as "Eglos-broc". The modern French equivalent for 'eglos' is 'eglise' or 'church'. 'Broc' is a corruption of Breaca. During this period the previous church was replaced with a more substantial building in the Norman style.
The present church was built over a six year period being dedicated to St Breaca in 1456.
By the time of the Reformation under Henry VIII in the mid 16th century, when the church and its chapels were absorbed into the established church, the Ripper family were already resident here.
The earliest family members lived at Crawle, Trew and Ruthdower. These are small settlements in the parish of Breage. Later, many lived in other parts of Breage parish and ventured further afield into the neighbouring parishes of Crowan, Germoe, Wendron, Helston and others.
Breage parish church was a few miles walk from the family homes at Crawle, Ruthdower and Trew but is where many of the early Ripper baptisms, marriages and burials took place. The parish records are difficult to read and scant on information in the 1500's. It is probable that there may well be earlier generations than those shown here but I have no evidence of this to date. The church will have altered much over the years but the wall paintings are medieval and are contemporary with Ripper family usage.
BREAGE'S ECONOMY
The two primary occupations found in church registers over the years are miner and farmer. Mining in Cornwall goes back into the mists of time and was a source of supply for the ancient Phoenicians. The provision of food from farming must, of necessity, have developed even before mining for tin, copper, zinc and other metals.
The moors and hills of Cornwall are remnants of huge pools of granite which cooled and solidified below the Earth's surface and over many years natural forces have exposed them to stand above the surrounding landscape. Granite contains many minerals and in its molten state spreads out into surrounding rocks creating seams of metal ore. It is these seams which the Cornish miners exploited and gave Cornwall its distinctive character.
The largest mine in the district was Wheal Vor, which was active from the early 1600s into the 20th century. This was the first Cornish mine to have a steam pumping engine and in the 1841 census employed almost 1,200 people with many others dependent upon its success.
The price of metals in the world markets has always had a major influence on the Cornish, and Breage's, economy and the last major downturn was in the period leading up to 1877. This caused many Cornishmen to follow many of their earlier cousins to emigrate from Cornwall to find work. Many travelled the vast distances to the English speaking world where mining was still thriving. The two primary destinations for the Ripper family descendants were the goldfields of South Australia and the mines around Lake Michigan in the USA.
Breage's proximity to the sea and the actions of its earlier residents earned it a fearsome reputation with seamen as can be evidenced from the following:
"God keep us from rocks and shelving sands, From Germoe men and Breage hands"
I have no evidence that any of the Ripper family members were ever involved in anything underhand in the manner of smuggling, wrecking or even imaginative beachcombing. This however, does not mean that they weren't. In 1749 it was recorded at Gulval that "We have had the greatest floods of rain ... in any man's remembrance ... many thousand tynners by this means deprived of employ and starving". In these circumstances who would not resist any means to keep oneself and one's family alive and well.
Farming still continues in Cornwall - with such a temperate climate, plant growth is prolific.
Traditionally the Cornishman is also associated with fishing for his living, particularly seine fishing for pilchards. Although not far from the coast, fishing has not been a significant occupation in the Ripper family.
Tourism has now become the primary industry and many of the work placements are seasonal. It is also seen by many as an idyllic place to retire or have holiday homes.
There are few members of the Ripper family left in Cornwall. Some still bear the names of Ripper and Repper, but they are the exception.
Her burial is recorded as Joan Rypper of Cariurrall.
The only record of James so far established is his presence on a muster roll.
Elizabeth's marriage date may be 1567 and not 1569. This requires confirmation from the parish register which is held in the Cornwall County Record Office.
At the muster of 1569 in Breage, John presented himself with a bill. The muster was a declaration of support for the monarch, Elizabeth, indicating that they would be available to fight as troops in the event of war. A bill is a billhook, or a long staff with a pointed end and a curved blade. This may indicate that John was an agricultural labourer.
In 1577 John and his elder brother William took the lease on Crawle and presumably lived there with their respective families. Sometime in the period 1577 to 1586 William's two sons, William and Pascasius, had taken the lease on Ruthdower Mill along with John's son, John. In 1583 William died and in 1586 John's son, John, married Constance Squire. Following these events the family re-organised their homes in October 1586 when new leases were drawn up. Crawle continued to be occupied by John's family. William's son William, who had married Pascase Trenwheal, and his family took the lease of Ruthdower Mill - but whether Pascasius continued to live there is not known.
The best evidence available to provide substance to our understanding of John's life is his will. The fact that he had a will prepared for him (he could not write and signed documents with an X) does not indicate great wealth. At the time, many people wrote wills even when the value of the estate was not great. In some ways this ensured a greater degree of harmony in the family and that the little that was owned was distributed as the deceased had prescribed. To have been quoted in a will indicated a degree of acceptance of the beneficiaries by the deceased during their life.
The will is transcribed here:
"Breage xxiij die octobris 1616
"Testamented Johanis Ripper ". This appears a standard form of probate granting executorship to Thomas Ripper, signed by Richard Veale of Breage
"In the name of God, Amen.
"The second day of November, Anno Domini 1615.
"I, John Ripper of the parish of Breage, fraile of body but perfect of memory, praise be to my God, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following, viz.
"Imprimis I commend my soul to God my maker and redeemer, and my body to the earth,
"Imprimis I do give and bequeath to Stephen Ripper my grandchild my little mare, one tableboard that is in the higher chamber with a carpet, tablecloth and form belonging to the said tableboard, in lieu of such money, as I heretofore promised the said Stephen.
"Item - I give and bequeath to Alyse my grandchild one featherbed performed and twelve plattens (all which I have already delivered to the said Alyse) in lieu of such money, as I heretofore promised to give to the said Alyse.
"Item - I give and bequeath to Phillip my grandchild one latten candlestick three tubs and the half of such little pans, in lieu of such money, as I heretofore have promised to the said Phillip.
"Item - I will that Constance my daughter in law shall have the use of one of my silver spoons, during her life, and that after her death my grandchild Thomas Ripper shall have the same.
"Item - I give to the aforesaid Phillip two rugs, three sheets and a hogshead and one barrel.
"Item - I give and bequeath to Alyse my daughter one heifer.
"Item - all other my goods and chattels not before given and bequeathed I give and bequeath to Thomas Ripper my grandchild, whom I make my whole sole executor, to see this my will performed, my debts discharged, and my funeral solemnized, in witness whereof I the said John Ripper have hereunto put my hand, proven this day and here finish about written.
"The sign of "X" John Ripper
"Witnesses hereunto
"William Orchard
"the signe "X" of Richard Harrie att Pengwedna"At the time of his death, John had few surviving descendants to whom to leave his estate. His residence, Crawle was subject to a lease and automatically passed to his daughter-in-law Constance. His eldest surviving male descendant was his grandson Thomas, who despite being only 15 years old was nominated as being the sole executor to the estate and beneficiary after distribution of the goods cited in the will.
The International Genealogical Index gives a marriage of John Ripper to Janet Tennas in 1562, as opposed to the entry recorded here from apparent direct investigation of the parish register. This needs closer examination.
At the time of her marriage she is shown as the servant of Annes Varyn (possibly Agnes Veryan or Vivian?).
The entry of the marriage needs closer scrutiny, the two year gap and the statement of the name Tennas on the one entry and the servant of Annes Varyn could be confused in the translation. There are no family researchers looking for the name Tennas in Cornwall and as the vast majority of native Cornish names are the subject of some research this encourages me to believe that the name may be misread and requires additional scrutiny to verify the name.
Janet is not mentioned in her husband's will, having predeceased her husband.
Line in Record @I853@ (RIN 283174) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
OCCU a farmer
In the 1841 census at Trevelgis, Wendron, Cornwall were:
* Stephens John, 56, farmer;
* Stephens Loveday, 55;
* Stephens Bennett, 29;
* Stephens Martha, 25;
* Stephens Thomas; 23;
* Stephens Henry, 22;
* Stephens Jane, 16;
* Stephens Ann, 12.
All were born in Cornwall.In the 1851 census at Trevilgis were:
* John Stephens, head, mar, 66, farmer, born Cury;
* Loveday Stephens, wife, 65, born Wendron;
* Thomas Stephens, son, unmarried, 33, born Sithney;
* Henry Stephens, son, unmarried, 32, born Wendron;
* James Stephens, son, unmarried, 28, born Wendron;
* Jane Stephens, daughter, unmarried, 26, born Wendron;
* Ann Stephens, daughter, unmarried, 21, born Wendron;
* Eliza Stephens, grandaughter, 7, farmer's daughter, born Camborne;
* Sarah Dunstan, servant, unmarried, 62, born Wendron.In the 1861 census John Stephens was living with his daughter Mary and son-in-law James Thomas, a grocer and farmer at Laitey. John is described as a lodger, aged 76, married, born in Cury. Loveday, aged 76, was living at Trevelgis with her unmarried son Thomas, a farmer of 95 acres.
At John Stephens' death his son-in-law James Thomas was in attendance, who became the informant to the registrar.
John's monumental inscription in Wendron Churchyard:
"Sacred to the memory of John Stephens who departed this life April 5 1862 aged 78 years
"In every stage of life is given
"A warning voice it speaks from heaven
"In childhood's hour it breathes around
"The fairest flowers are faded found
"In youth it whispers as a friend
"Reflected on thy latter end.
"In manhood louder swells the cry
"Remember thou art born to die
"In age it thunders on the blast
"Amen thy earthly years are past
"In joy and grief and ease and care
"In every age PREPARE PREPARE."
Line in Record @I1025@ (RIN 283346) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
CAUS Old Age, No Medical Attendant
The informant at Loveday's death was her son Henry who was in attendance at her death.
Line in Record @I855@ (RIN 283176) from GEDCOM file not recognized:
OCCU a copper mine labourer
In 1841 census Daniel is shown with his wife Elizabeth and daughter, also Elizabeth, living in Hicks Row, Redruth.
The 1841 census shows Elizabeth at home with her father and mother (then aged 45 and 48 respectively), aged 3. Their home at the time was at Cockpit in Redruth, near Hicks Row.