James C. A. Whetter (20 September 1935 – 24 February 2018) was a British historian and politician, noted as a Cornish

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and editor of ''The Cornish Banner'' (''An Baner Kernewek''). He contested elections for two Cornish independence parties. A prolific writer, Dr James Whetter was the editor of

Mebyon Kernow Mebyon Kernow – The Party for Cornwall (, MK; Cornish for ''Sons of Cornwall'') is a Cornish nationalist, centre-left political party in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. It currently has five elected councillors on Cornwall Council, and s ...

's monthly magazine Cornish Nation in the early 1970s before later becoming active in the

Cornish Nationalist Party The Cornish Nationalist Party (CNP; kw, An Parti Kenethlegek Kernow) is a political party, founded by Dr James Whetter, who campaigned for independence for Cornwall. History It was formed by people who left Cornwall's main nationalist party Meb ...

. While active in Mebyon Kernow he authored ''A Celtic Tomorrow - Essays in Cornish Nationalism'' (MK Publications 1973) and ''The Celtic Background of Kernow'' (MK Publications 1971), the latter intended to assist schoolchildren in a better understanding of Cornish

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

history and culture. Whetter's books include ''The History of

Glasney College Glasney College ( kw, Kolji Glasneth) was founded in 1265 at Penryn, Cornwall, by Bishop Bronescombe and was a centre of ecclesiastical power in medieval Cornwall and probably the best known and most important of Cornwall's religious institut ...

'' (Padstow: Tabb House, 1988), ''Cornwall in the Seventeenth Century'' (Padstow: Lodenek Press, 1974) and ''The History of Falmouth'' (Redruth: Dyllansow Truran, 1981). Whetter gained a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

and was

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of the Roseland Institute, a centre for Cornish Studies at

Gorran Haven Gorran Haven () is a fishing village, in the civil parish of St Goran, on the south coast of Cornwall, England, UK. It is about south of Mevagissey and lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Overview The village ...

near

St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell wa ...

. The institute contains a library of over 20,000 books in the process of being catalogued and put on-line and is the base for the publishing activities of Lyfrow Trelyspen and CNP Publications. The former produces works on Cornish history, essays and related subjects, and the latter, the quarterly Cornish magazine, ''The Cornish Banner'' (''An Baner Kernewek'').The Roseland Institute at Gorran Haven
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Political activity

In 1974, Whetter stood twice as the

parliamentary candidate before founding, in 1975, the

, a political party that split from Mebyon Kernow to campaign for Cornish independence, and for which he was a candidate at the 1979 general election.

Elections contested

UK Parliament elections Dr Whetter also contested the Cornwall and Plymouth European Parliamentary seat in 1984 as the CNP candidate polling 1,892 votes (1.0).

References

External links

Obituary and Tribute to Dr James Whetter published on the Transceltic websiteDr James Whetter Obituary on the ''Cornwall Live'' news website including tributes by Dick Cole, the leader of Mebyon Kernow, historian Bernard Deacon and Michael Bunney, chairman of St Gorran Parish History Society and a parish councillor
* 1935 births 2018 deaths People from St Austell British historians British male writers British political party founders Historians of Cornwall Politicians from Cornwall Cornish nationalists Cornish language activists Mebyon Kernow politicians 20th-century English politicians 20th-century English writers Cornish independence activists {{Cornwall-stub

Political activity

Elections contested

See also

References

External links