The publication of Henry Jenner’s Handbook of the Cornish Language in 1904 is often used to date the beginning of the twentieth century Cornish language revival. This online talk looks at the creation of the book, the proof copies of which are held in Kresen Kernow, and discusses why two sections were not published.
Jenner’s wider correspondence, some of which is also held in Kresen Kernow’s, also sheds some light on further issues which were being raised around the Cornish language community at this time, including the claim of Hobson Matthews to have hereditary knowledge of Cornish.
About the speaker
Kensa Broadhurst completed her PhD at the Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter. She researched the period 1777-1904 in which the Cornish language is widely believed to have been extinct. Her studies were funded by the Cornwall Heritage Trust. A former modern languages teacher, Kensa is a fluent speaker of Cornish, a Bard of Gorsedh Kernow, and both teaches and examines Cornish for the University of Exeter and more widely within the community. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and the Cornish Language Lead at the University of Exeter.
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