John Tregerthen SHORT was baptised in St Ives, Cornwall on 16 May 1785, the child of Elizabeth TREGERTHEN and Richard SHORT and died 13 December 1873 at the age of 89 years.

After his ordeal in the Napoleonic war, he was married to Elizabeth CURNOW in St Ives on 29 March 1818 and they had six children.

Last week I was contacted by Frank SHORT in Victoria to include his research he wanted to contribute to the ShortFamilyTree.com website.

I graciously accepted as the growing popularity of this site demands new fresh content all the time. Whilst entering the data, I decided to do a little research into the family as well.

Frank's 2 x grand father Charles SHORT had immigrated to Victoria in December 1852 with his new wife Jane Irvine DARK. (Note: Victorian immigrants can be searched for online. Click here to view)

Whilst updating records using the Pioneers index at the local library, I found evidence that Charles SHORT came from St Ives, Cornwall. As Frank had no more information about Charles, I jumped in boots and all to see if I could find records of him in Cornwall.

After almost a week of research, Frank's contributed family tree has just increased in size exponentially!

A very interesting find in the tree was John Tregerthen SHORT from St Ives, Cornwall. John had been captured by the French during the Napoleonic war and spent 10 years in France as a prisoner of war.

John Tregerthen SHORT was baptised in St Ives, Cornwall on 16 May 1785, the child of Elizabeth TREGERTHEN and Richard SHORT and died 13 December 1873 at the age of 89 years.

After his ordeal in the Napoleonic war, he was married to Elizabeth CURNOW in St Ives on 29 March 1818 and they had six children.

The book opens with a chapter from his diary written during the time he was a prisoner of the French from 1804-1814 to when he returned to St Ives, Cornwall to take up his civilian life again. The diary was kept by John during his time in prison and on the road, still a prisoner, as the Russians, Prussians and Austrians advanced on France from the east. The journey on foot from the prison at Givet to Bordeaux, was 1,276 miles and took 110 days. It is a fascinating insight into the terrible conditions the men endured.

The second chapter is the diary of his cousin Thomas WILLIAMS written at the same time. This is more of a narrative and the treatment more subjective with fewer names and facts.

The remainder of the book contains John's diary from 1817 to 1872 when he was back in St. Ives.

John had taught himself Navigation whilst in captivity in France. Once settled back in St Ives, he opened his own school of Navigation and records show that he and his cousin Thomas WILLIAMS ran and taught there.

The book has an entry on the 21st August 1852 that records that "Nine persons left St. Ives for Australia." This date is approximatley when Frank's 2 x grand parents immigrated to Australia, arriving in December 1852.

For anyone researching the St Ives area, reading this book is well worth the effort. The names recorded within are of many families in the area.

Click here to see John Tregerthen SHORT's page in the family tree (registered users only). A digital copy of his book can be located at the bottom of the page for you to download in PDF format. It's about 18Mb in size, but it is the complete book.

If you have any questions etc, contact me through the "contact us" page.

Murray SHORT
www.shortfamilytree.com