Marazion Cornwall Family History Guide

Marazion is an Ecclesiastical Parish and a market town in the county of Cornwall, created in 1823 from a chapelry in St Hilary Ancient Parish.

Alternative names: Market Jew, St Hilary All Saints

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1813
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1813

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Bible Christian Methodist, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

MARAZION, or MARKET-JEW, a small town, a chapelry, and a sub-district, in Penzance district, Cornwall. The town stands on Mounts bay, under a hill, near the West Cornwall railway, 3¼ miles E by N of Penzance; was formerly called Marghasjewe and Marghasion; is called, by Leland, Marhasdethon or Forum-Jovis, and by the editors of the old Mag. Brit., Market-Jupiter, Market-Jew, or Market-Ju; is supposed, by some writers, to have been settled or inhabited by Jews, for collecting and selling tin, and to have been named by them Marazion, signifying “Bitter-Zion;’’ appears to have been once a place of considerable consequence, both as a seat of trade, and as the head-quarters of pilgrims to St. Michael’s Mount; was pillaged by the French in the time of Henry VIII., and by the Cornish rebels in that of Edward V.; obtained a charter from Queen Elizabeth, vesting its government in a mayor, 8 aldermen, and 12 capital burgesses; lost much of its importance by the suppression of the neighbouring priory, and the growing prosperity of Penzance; was not included in any of the schedules of the new municipal act; is irregularly aligned, and indifferently built; is connected with St. Michael’s Mount by a causeway 1,200 feet long, but above water during only 4 hours of every 12 of the tide; carries on rope-making, a large pilchard fishery, an import trade in coal, iron, and timber, and some business in connexion with neighbouring mines; and has a head post office‡ of the name of Marazion, Cornwall, a railway station, of the name of Marazion-Road, three inns, a church, four dissenting chapels, a public school, and charities £10. The church stands at some distance, and was recently rebuilt. The chapels are for Independents, Quakers, Wesleyans, and United Free Methodists. A weekly market is held on Saturday; and fairs, chiefly for cattle, are held on 20 March and 20 Sept. The chapelry includes the town, and is in the parish of St. Hilary. Acres, 871; of which 190 are water. Real property, £4,260. Pop. in 1851, 1,379; in 1861, 1,545. Houses, 312. A large tract of marsh was reclaimed by Dr. Moyle. The land is notable for producing a superior variety of turnip. Asbestos, actinolite, iron-ore, and other rare and useful minerals are found. About 1,000 Roman coins were discovered at the reclaiming of the marsh. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £66. Patron, the Vicar of St. Hilary. The sub-district contains also the rest of St. Hilary parish, all Perranuthnoe parish, and St. Michael’s Mount extra-parochial tract. Acres, 4,909. Pop., 5,098. Houses, 1,037.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].