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Corns family of Wombourne

  • 25 June 2014

The marriage of Richard CORNS and Ann CARTWRIGHT on 1st December 1700 is the first time the name CORNS appears in the Wombourne parish registers.

Where Richard came from and why he moved to Wombourne, is unknown. Ann gave birth to twins, Hannah and Mary, in May 1701 but the children died within 2 days of birth. Richard and Ann went on to have 8 more children, the last two of whom were also twins, Jane and Esther but, again, both died as infants.

Today, Corns is a fairly common name in Wombourne village and, as far as I can tell, most of these families trace their ancestors back to either Richard and Ann Corns or to Daniel and Mary Corns.

Daniel gives his place of birth on census returns as “Orkney, Shetland” and his first child seems to have been born in Wombourne about 1836. Information from a fellow researcher (Dennis Wood) is that Daniel was actually the son of Edward Corns and Sarah Penson (who married in Wolverhampton in 1802).

Daniel was born c.1810 in Fort Charlotte, Orkney where his father, Edward, was apparently manning a garrison. Edward was himself from Wombourne, having been baptised there on 3rd March 1783 and was the great-grandson of Richard and Ann. Thus, it would seem that all the Corns families in Wombourne today are descended from Richard Corns and Ann Cartwright.

Corns family members seem to have been largely nailers and stayed in the Wombourne area, although Frederick Corns appears on the 1851 census as a gardener in Belbroughton, Worcestershire. From the baptisms of his children, it seems the family moved from Wombourne to Belbroughton sometime between August 1842 and June 1845, returning to Wombourne sometime between April 1853 and April 1856.

8 Comments

  • Hello Matt

    If I’ve worked it out correctly, we are 5th cousins, sharing 4x great-grandparents. This is what I’ve found:

  • Your paternal grandparents were Ernest Corns (1907-1965) and Elsie Hill (1909-1969)
  • Ernest’s parents, your great-grandparents, were Ernest Harry Corns (1872-1942) and Agnes Tongue (1870-1918)
  • Ernest Harry’s parents, your great-great grandparents, were Joseph Corns (1847-1886) and Harriet Vale (1853-1895)
  • Joseph’s parents, your 3x great-grandparents, were Henry Corns (1801-1876) and Eleanor Stevens (1806-1883)
  • Henry’s parents, your (and my) 4x great-grandparents, were Joseph Corns (1780-1855) and Elizabeth Meredith (1778-1854)
  • Joseph’s parents were Richard Corns (1735-1807) and Mary Worton (died 1808)
  • Richard’s parents were John Corns (1702-1765) and Rachel (1702-1760)
  • John’s parents, and your 7x great grandparents, were the Richard Corns and Ann Cartwright mentioned in the above post. This is the first mention of the surname Corns in the Wombourne parish registers.
  • I hope this helps!

    Tracey

  • Hi

    I too am a Corns and am Looking for information as I dont have much to go on. All my research had ended up in Wombourne but I wasnt too sure on names and other finer details.

    • Hello Martin

      Thanks for your comment. Usually, it’s a matter of tracking back through birth and marriage certificates to find names of parents etc., and then checking information on census returns 1841-1911. I have quite a lot of Corns family members listed 1700-1900 so if you have any names during this period, please let me know and I’ll see if anything comes up.

      Tracey

  • Hello Tracey, very nice web page. I am your 5th cousin. Coming down from the Richard Corns and Ann Cartwright line, via their son John 1702-1765. His son’s Samuel 1725-1789 and Richard 1735-1807.Their children Jane Corns 1754-1833 and Joseph Corns 1780-1855.Getting very complicated now!!Jane married Edward Cartwright and their daughter another Jane was my 4x great grandmother, she married William Stevens and produced Ellenor 1806-1883 who married Henry Corns They produced my 2x great grandfather Joseph 1847-1886.
    Going back to Richard Corns 1735-1807 he produced another Joseph 1780-1855 and this Joseph had Henry 1801-1876. I suppose it was a small village, but I also have co-mingled Cartwrights….

  • Hi Tracey – just a quick note to thank you for this information. I have just traced back to John & Rachel who are my 7 x grandparents. I was born / still live locally. My tree is on Ancestry under annehwilcox. Thanks again

  • My name is James P. Cornes and I live in New Mexico, USA. My great, great, grandfather came over to the US in 1850’s. His name was James M. Corns. He ended up fighting for the Confederacy and changed the spelling of his last name to Cornes. I traced him back to Glasgow Scotland and that’s as far back in the family tree as I have been able to research. He was a stone mason by trade. He became a lumberman in the United States and very successful businessman in Louisiana.
    Is there any possibility that he might be from Wombourne and related to the Corns’ there? Thanks in advance for any help that you might be able to provide.

  • Hello! I am using Family Search and found a line going back to Richard and Ann, via their son, John. Interestingly, it seems to then link Richard back to Thomas Corns and Janet Campbell, of Ochiltree, Ayrshire, who was connected to European royalty. I fear this may be wishful thinking on the part of the previous researcher. Janet seems to have stayed in Scotland.
    Richard’s male line going back three more generations seemed to all be from Staffs.
    Our line (Henry Jordan) was in Himley around 1800 and the family seemed settled there for 150 years.

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