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Child of John Kernick and Ann Oliver

John Oliver Kernick born 8 February 1835 in Bodmin, and died 21 November 1877 also in Bodmin, Cornwall.
Little or nothing is known of his early life except that he was apprenticed to a cordwainer and that he was 10 or 11 years old when his father died. His Oliver grandfather was a shoemaker which may be why he was apprenticed to a cordwainer. This must have left Ann with quite a problem, as she then had to support and bring up a youngster, just entering his teens, with little or nothing behind her. No details of his apprenticeship have been found but the census return of 1851 shows her, at the age of 59, to have been a charwoman. At that time they were living in Lower Bore Street, Bodmin, which is not that far away from their previous home in Pool Street. On 21st November, 1859, John married Rachel Jago, whose address is given on their marriage certificate as Pool Street. This is where Ann and John used to live and it would be nice to think that John and Rachel had been childhood sweethearts. Their wedding was not so much as 'get me to the church on time' as a case of 'get me to the church IN time', as John Charles – my grandfather - was born 17 days after they were married. From various reports into the life style of families at that time it would seem that couples became intimate as soon as they were betrothed and for the wife to be pregnant at the time of her marriage was the accepted thing.

It would seem that there was something unexpected about his death as a coroner's inquest, which recorded a death from 'natural causes', was held on the day he died. Unfortunately no records of coroners' inquests from this period of time now remain.

At sometime in his life he entered the Prison Service and was stationed firstly at the Bodmin Prison, later being transferred to Woking in Surrey. Quite why he was transferred is not known but at the end of five years there he was moved back to Bodmin.. It is possible that at this time he reverted to shoemaking as on his children’s marriage certificates his occupation is given as either a Prison Warder or a Shoemakerit would seem that there was something unexpected about his death as a coroner's inquest, which recorded a death from 'natural causes', was held on the day he died. Unfortunately no records of coroners' inquests from this period of time now remain.
it would seem that there was something unexpected about his death as a coroner's inquest, which recorded a death from 'natural causes', was held on the day he died. Unfortunately no records of coroners' inquests from this period of time now remain.