Cornwall holiday information  Show / hide menu  The Cornish
Diaspora  The Cornish Diaspora of the 18th and 19th century was
made up of a significant proportion of the Cornish population
moving to other parts of Great Britain and countries such as the
United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, and South
Africa. This exodus was caused by a number of factors, but
mainly economic reasons when these "Cousin Jacks" , as they were
known, migrated to various parts of the world in search of work
and a better life.  A driving force for some emigrants was the
opportunity for skilled miners to find work in the New World,
combined with the decline of the tin and copper mining
industries in Cornwall. It is estimated that 250,000 Cornish
migrated abroad between 1861 and 1901 and these emigrants
included farmers, merchants and tradesmen, but miners made up
most of the numbers. There is a well known saying in Cornwall
that 'a mine is a hole anywhere in the world with at least one
Cornishman at the bottom of it!'