It was my old friend Dr. Rowse who put me in mind to write these essays. In a review in The Cornish Banner a year or two ago I said that, 19th century history bored me. Well, the fact was that, for my "O" and "A" levels we had made a close study of British and European history in that period, the Reform Bill, the Corn Laws, Education, Palmerston's foreign policy, the causes of the First World War etc. etc. At university I must say I found medieval history more appealing and it continues to exercise a considerable pull for me. However misunderstanding me somewhat Dr. Rowse was critical of my remarks and told me how many notable people Cornwall had produced in that period, Henry Martyn, Sleeman in India, Grenfell in the Congo, Ernest Braddon the writer and so forth. To rectify things I began to write up some of them for the Banner starting with Martyn. I found myself extending my field into the 18th century...
