Joan Rendell MBE (1921 – 4 May 2010) was an English historian, writer (mainly on Cornish subjects), and phillumenist.

Life

Rendell was born in Plymouth,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, in 1921. She was the daughter of Gervase Rendell, born 1879 in

Eastry Eastry is a civil parish in Kent, England, around southwest of Sandwich. It was voted "Kent Village of the Year 2005". The name is derived from the Old English ''Ēast- rige'', meaning "eastern province" (c.f. '' Sūþ-rige'' "southern provinc ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. For most of her life her home was at Werrington, Cornwall. She was the author of more than 30 books, mainly on Cornish subjects. In September 1980 she was made a Bard of

Gorsedh Kernow Gorsedh Kernow (Cornish Gorsedd) is a non-political Cornish organisation, based in Cornwall, United Kingdom, which exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall. It is based on the Welsh-based Gorsedd, which was founded by Iolo Mo ...

, taking the name ''Scryfer Weryn'' (Writer of Werrington). She was also an avid collector of

matchbox Phillumeny (also known as phillumenism) is the hobby of collecting different match-related items: matchboxes, matchbox labels, matchbooks, matchcovers, matchsafes, etc. Matchbox A matchbox is a box made of cardboard or thin wood and designe ...

covers and had an estimated collection of 300,000. Another interest was

corn dolly Corn dollies or corn mothers are a form of straw work made as part of harvest customs of Europe before mechanization. Before Christianisation, in traditional pagan European culture it was believed that the spirit of the corn (in American Englis ...

making, on which she also wrote a book. Rendell died in a fire at her bungalow in

Yeolmbridge Yeolmbridge is a village in Cornwall (but within the boundaries of the historic county of Devon), two and a half miles north of Launceston. Yeolm Bridge The village takes its name from the bridge, Yeolm Bridge which crosses the River Otter ...

, near Launceston, Cornwall, on 4 May 2010.

Awards

Rendell was awarded the MBE in 1958, for raising £100,000 in

National Savings In economics, a country's national saving is the sum of private and public saving. It equals a nation's income minus consumption and the government spending. Economic model Closed economy with public deficit or surplus possible In this ...

stamps. She went on to be national chairman of the National Savings Bank. In 1977 she was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal.Notes in ''Superstition and Folklore'', by Michael Williams; St Teath: Bossiney Books, 1982

Publications (selected)

* ''Cornwall Strange but True'' * ''Collecting Matchbox Labels'' * ''The Story of the

Bude Canal The Bude Canal was a canal built to serve the hilly hinterland in the Cornwall and Devon border territory in the United Kingdom, chiefly to bring lime-bearing sand for agricultural fertiliser. The Bude Canal system was one of the most unusual ...

''. Callington: Stannary Press, 1978 * ''Along the Bude Canal''. Bodmin: Bossiney Books, 1979 * ''Around Bude and Stratton'' * ''Cornwall's Historic Buildings'' * ''The Book of Werrington: a pictorial celebration'' * ''Lundy Island''. St Teath: Bossiney Books * ''North Cornwall in the Old Days'' * ''Hawker Country''. St Teath: Bossiney Books * ''Around Launceston'' * ''Country Crafts'' * ''Saltash'' * ''Cornish Churches''. St Teath: Bossiney Books, 1982 *''Gateway to Cornwall''. St Teath: Bossiney Books

References

External links

Cornish author dies
Westcountry TV report on her death {{DEFAULTSORT:Rendell, Joan 1921 births 2010 deaths Writers from Cornwall English historians Bards of Gorsedh Kernow English book and manuscript collectors Historians of Cornwall Members of the Order of the British Empire English women non-fiction writers British women historians Writers from Plymouth, Devon