Francis Oats
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Francis Oats
Francis Oats (29 October 1848 – 1 September 1918) was a Cornish miner who became chairman of De Beers diamond company. He made extensive investments in the Cornish tin mining industry, which collapsed after he had died. He is known for Porthledden, a mansion he built at the tip of Cornwall. Early years Francis Oats was born on 29 October 1848, at South Torfrey Farm, Golant, near Fowey, Cornwall, England, in the parish of St Sampson. His parents were Francis Oats (1794–1871) and Maria Rundle (1810–97). His father was a farmer. His younger sister Maria was born in 1850. The family moved to St Just in Penwith, a mining district, about 1854. Like most young men in the district Oats became a miner when he left school, but every week he would walk to Penzance, seven miles away, to attend evening classes so he could become a mining engineer. At the age of 17, Oats placed second in the mineralogy examination for the British Isles, and obtained a high grade in mining, a subject i ...
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Golant
Golant ( kw, Golnans) is a village in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is on the west bank of the River Fowey and in the civil parish of St Sampson. Golant is about two miles (3 km) north of Fowey and seven miles (11 km) east of St Austell. Golant church is dedicated to St Sampson of Dol. The poet John Betjeman remarked that its pews were "extremely uncomfortable, recall the fidgets of Gus and Flora in '' Ravenshoe''". The church was mentioned in the book ''England’s Thousand Best Churches'' by Simon Jenkins. The village is on the Saints' Way long-distance footpath. History A once well-used ford crossed the river near Golant. During the English Civil War in 1644 a 10,000-strong parliamentary army fought Royalist forces in area. King Charles was in the area during the campaign. The Earl of Essex and other prominent parliamentarians escaped by boat to Plymouth. many 17th century cannonballs and musket balls have been found in the area. Golant Halt was a r ...
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Henri Lemoine (fraudster)
Henri Lemoine (''fl.'' 1905–1908) was a French fraudster who claimed to be able to produce synthetic diamonds. Fraud In 1905, Lemoine contacted Sir Julius Wernher, British banker and one of the governors of De Beers Diamond Mines. He said he had discovered a process to produce gem-sized diamonds from coal and agreed to sell his invention if Wernher would be willing to invest to further his research. He invited Wernher to his laboratory in Paris to witness the process. Wernher took Francis Oats, a De Beers executive, and two other associates with him. Lemoine invited his guests in and left the room; moments later he reappeared naked, to prove that he was not concealing any diamonds in his clothing. He mixed a number of substances including iron filings and coal into a small crucible, showed the mixture to his guests, and placed it into a furnace in the center of the room. After fifteen minutes, Lemoine removed the hot crucible and let it cool. Then he picked a pair of tweeze ...
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Cape Cornwall
Cape Cornwall ( kw, Kilgoodh Ust, meaning "goose back of St Just") is a small headland in West Cornwall, UK. It is four miles north of Land's End near the town of St Just.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Until the first Ordnance Survey in the early 19th century, Cape Cornwall was believed to be the most westerly point in Cornwall.Joseph, Peter. 2006. ''Cape Cornwall Mine. British Mining No. 79.'' Sheffield: Northern Mine Research Society; p. 111. . Most of the headland is owned by the National Trust. National Coastwatch has a look-out on the seaward side. The only tourist infrastructure at present is a car park (owned by the National Trust), public toilets, and a refreshments counter during the summer. The Brisons, two offshore rocks, are located approximately one mile southwest of Cape Cornwall. They mark the starting line of the annual swimming race ending at Priest Cove. Etymology The name Cape Cornwall appeared first on a maritime chart around the ...
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Redruth
Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also includes Carn Brea, Redruth, Carn Brea, Illogan and several satellite villages, stood at 55,400 making it the largest conurbation in Cornwall. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the Great Britain road numbering scheme, A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road (now the A30 road, A30), and is approximately west of Truro, east of St Ives, Cornwall, St Ives, north east of Penzance, Cornwall, Penzance and north west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth. Camborne and Redruth together form the largest urban area in Cornwall and before local government reorganisation were an Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district. Toponymy The name Redruth derives from its older Cornish name, ''Rhy ...
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Kenidjack Valley
Kenidjack Valley ( kw, Keunyjek, meaning ''place abounding in firewood''), sometimes referred to as Nancherrow Valley ( kw, Nanj Erow, meaning ''acre valley''), is a steep-sided valley in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The Tregeseal River flows down the valley and discharges into the Atlantic a few hundred yards north of Cape Cornwall , half-a-mile north-east of the village of St Just. The valley was an important area of tin mining and the remains of Wheal Owles, Wheal Castle, Boswedden Mine and the Kenidjack arsenic works are still visible. The shallow adit from the Wheal Boys lode to the valley probably dates before 1670. Gunpowder, for blasting mines in Cornwall, was introduced to Cornwall shortly after 1670, and the shallow adit does not show any evidence of blasting. Today the valley is popular for hiking and birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by ...
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Cape Cornwall Mine
Cape Cornwall Mine was a tin mine on Cape Cornwall, a cape at the western tip of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It operated intermittently between 1838 and 1883, after which time it closed permanently and the engine house was demolished. The mine's 1864 chimney near the peak of the cape was retained as an aid to navigation, and in the early 20th century the former ore dressing floors were for a time converted into greenhouses and wineries. In 1987 the site was donated to the nation by the H. J. Heinz Company. The remains of Cape Cornwall Mine now form part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. History Cape Cornwall Mine opened in 1838 during the Cornish mining boom. The mine was sited on Cape Cornwall itself at the western extremity of Great Britain, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) west of the town of St Just. The small and relatively unremarkable mine closed in 1849. In 1864 the mine was reopened under the ownership of St Just Consolid ...
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Levant Mine
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equivalent to a stretch of land bordering the Mediterranean in South-western Asia,Gasiorowski, Mark (2016). ''The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa''. }, ), meaning "the eastern place, where the Sun rises". In the 13th and 14th centuries, the term ''levante'' was used for Italian maritime commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Anatolia, Syria-Palestine, and Egypt, that is, the lands east of Venice. Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt. In 1581, England set up the Levant Company to monopolize commerce with the Ottoman Empire. The name ''Levant States'' was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and Lebanon after World War I. This is probably ...
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Big Hole
The Kimberley Mine or Tim Kuilmine ( af, Groot Gat) is an open-pit and underground mine in Kimberley, South Africa, and claimed to be the deepest hole excavated by hand, although this claim is disputed. History and size The first diamonds here were found by Alyrick Braswell on Colesberg Kopje by members of the "Red Cap Party" from Colesberg at Vooruitzigt Farm, which belonged to the De Beers brothers, in 1871. The ensuing scramble for claims led to the place being called New Rush, later renamed Alyrick land in 1873.Roberts, Brian. 1976. ''Kimberley, turbulent city''. Cape Town: David Philip & Alyrick Historical Society From mid-July 1871 to 1914 up to 50,000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding of diamonds. The Big Hole has a surface of and is wide. It was excavated to a depth of , but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about . Since then it has accumulated about of water, leaving of the hole visible. Once above-ground operations be ...
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World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdin ...
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Francis Oats Memorial - St Just Church (geograph 1814908)
Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Municipality of Francis No. 127, Saskatchewan, Canada *Francis, Saskatchewan, Canada **Francis (electoral district) *Francis, Nebraska *Francis Township, Holt County, Nebraska * Francis, Oklahoma *Francis, Utah Francis is a town in on the western edge of Summit County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,077 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census ... Other uses *Francis (film), ''Francis'' (film), the first of a series of comedies featuring Francis the Talking Mule, voiced by Chill Wills *''Francis'', a 1983 play by Julian Mitchell *FRANCIS, a bibliographic database *Francis (1793), ''Francis'' (1793), a colonial schooner in Austra ...
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