Renals Family sitting outside Poplars, circa 1894/5
James Renals was born about 1818 in Cardinham, Cornwall — christened 27 December 1818, and confirmed by the monumental inscription on his headstone at Bodmin Old Cemetery, which records his age at death as 83. This supersedes earlier estimates (27 April 1817, per Ancestry; 1812, per an earlier family note), which can now be set aside. He died on 24 April 1901 at Fletchers Bridge, Bodmin.
James bought Poplars from his brother, John Runnals. He was the father of John Coppin Renals, who married Elizabeth Jane "Lizzie" Hoskin.
Lizzie was the daughter of Robert Sharp Hoskin, a master mariner of Port Isaac. Before photography became widely available, sitting for a painted portrait was the principal way a person of means could have their likeness captured — a portrait of Robert Sharp Hoskin survives in the family, currently held by cousin Trevor.
The photograph above shows James alongside his son John Coppin Renals, Lizzie, and their four children at the time, together with a nanny or domestic help. Between the two men sit a pair of Springer Spaniels — a breed that has accompanied the family across generations since, down to the author's own much-loved Tregonissey Coco. It is believed to be the earliest surviving photograph of the family, making James, born 1818, the oldest photographed family member identified to date. Notably, the photograph shows Poplars without the front porch, a later addition constructed with red brick at its lower section, per Kevin Renals — a useful detail for dating this and any subsequent photographs of the property.
Family recollection holds that Robert Sharp Hoskin came to live with the family towards the end of his life, in an annexe at Poplars occupied by either himself or James. This is unconfirmed, but would help explain why Robert Sharp Hoskin's death in 1899 was registered in the Bodmin area despite his Port Isaac origins — the same district in which James himself would die two years later.
Family recollections such as this should be read with the same caution one would bring to any eyewitness account — as anyone who has compared two people's memories of the same road traffic collision knows, recollection is a reconstructive and often contradictory thing, however sincerely held. Where memory and documentary evidence diverge, this site gives precedence to the documentary and physical record.
James's will, made on 12 October 1894, left £10 to each surviving child, with the residue passing to his son John Coppin, whom he appointed sole executor. John Coppin's position as principal heir — despite not being the eldest son — is explained by the earlier death of James's eldest son, also James, who died in 1882 aged 25.
The British Equitable Assurance Company's registration stamp, with the Probate Division's seal cut-through visible beneath
The Grant of Probate, dated 31 May 1901, bears an exterior stamp from the British Equitable Assurance Company, registered 1 June 1901 and initialled "NAB," likely the clerk who made the entry, referencing Probate Book G, folio 26 — evidence that James, or a dependent of his, held a life insurance policy with the company, which was formally registering its interest in the estate once probate had been granted. Visible through a cut beneath the stamp is part of the attached paper seal of the Court of the Probate Division, dated 24 June 1901. The underlying policy itself has not yet been traced, and may be worth pursuing as a research thread in its own right.
An indenture of 1840, in which Francis Rennals of Cardinham assigned land near Lower Margate, Bodmin to his son John Rennals, recites the terms of an earlier 1832 lease and names three of Francis's children by age at that date: James himself (then 14), his brother Henry (then 12), and his sister Grace (then 5) — ages which align closely with their independently known birth years, and identify James as the eldest of Francis and Sarah Rennals's three eldest recorded children.
James's sister Grace later married a Mr Pascoe. A document of 1859 records Francis's will, dated 1 April 1857, granting his son John the Smith's Shop and Shoeing House at Margate, subject to John paying Grace Pascoe an annuity of one pound yearly during her life — the first known record of Grace's married surname.
James is buried at Bodmin Old Cemetery, together with his son John Coppin, daughter-in-law Lizzie, and grandson Henry, who lived only fifteen months.
A note on the surname: James appears in the family's own documents as both "Rennals" and "Runnals" depending on the document — see A Note on the Spelling of Renals for what the surviving records show.