St Erth

Old Cornwall Christmas Traditions

Cornish Carols - A Tradition For The World

2. St Erth

Davies Gilbert

1767-1839

Davies Gilbert, Esq. was born at St. Erth, March 6, 1767 the son of Edward Giddy, curate of St. Erth church, and his wife Catherine Davies. He was educated at Penzance and Pembroke College, Oxford (M. A., 1789). In 1808, he married Mary-Ann Gilbert, the daughter and heiress of Thomas Gilbert, Esq. of East Bourne. In 1817, Giddy took the name of his wife (and the couple was thereby able to inherit the large Sussex estate of her uncle). He was High Sheriff of Cornwall, 1792-3. He served as a Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Helston in Cornwall from 1804 to 1806 and for Bodmin, 1806-32. From 1827-30 he was president of the Royal Society of Science. He was also the President of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall from its foundation in 1814 until his death. In 1832 he was awarded the honorary degree of D.C.L from Oxford.

Among his many literary efforts were:

The 'Parochial History of Cornwall' in 1838,
His edition of Christmas Carols in 1822, 'A Collection of Ancient Christmas Carols, with the tunes to which they were formerly sung in the West of England', (also known as Some Ancient Christmas Carols), with a second edition in 1823 published by John Nichols & Son, London, and
Two Cornish plays 'Pascon Agan Arluth' and 'Gwreans an Bys,' which he called respectively 'Mount Calvary' and 'The Creation of the World'.

Gilbert's title to fame rests not so much on his historical and literary achievements but on the way in which he placed his scientific knowledge, time and money at the service of men like Sir Humphry Davy and others. He died Dec. 24, 1839, survived by his wife, three daughters, and a son. Their daughter Catherine married John Samuel Enys and was the mother of the notable New Zealand naturalist, John Davies Enys (1837 – 1912). His wife, Mary Ann Gilbert, died Apr. 26, 1845.

Nadelek Lowan

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