Dr. Bernard Deacon has posted (14th October 2020) a blog setting out some comments on my book ‘A Cornish Colony In Mexico’. The original may be found at : https://bernarddeacon.com/2020/11/14/a-cornish-colony-in-mexico/
I recommend you explore all Bernard’s web site which contains fascinating information concerning the history, surnames and society of Cornwall.
“In 1826 the West Briton carried a report from Redruth: a miner recently back from overseas had ‘ astonished the natives by appearing in the streets in the dress usually worn by the Mexican miners.’
The migration links between Cornwall and Mexico in the 1800s have been less often covered than the much more numerous flows to the States, Australia and South Africa. However, Mike Kiernan has now added to it by publishing a new and comprehensive account of the Cornish colony in the Pachuca and Real del Monte districts of Mexico.
Quotations of various lengths give an unadorned picture of the conditions met by early colonists together with the occasionally excruciating colonial attitudes they carried with them. The essential mining background from the 1820s, when investment began to flow into Mexico, is set out in Chapters 1 and 3 of Mike’s book.
Chapter 2 provides the background to the religious life of the Cornish in Mexico, with an account of the first Protestant place of worship there: probably built by the Cornish in 1865. Three later chapters provide full details of memorials, headstones and plaques of Cornish people buried in three cemeteries, two in Mexico City and the third, and largest, at Real del Monte.
The cultural and religious interests of the Cornish colony are covered in Chapter 4, which includes an account of the role of the Cornish in introducing football in the 1890s (interestingly not rugby but soccer). Chapter 5 relates some fascinating instances of disputes, kidnapping, murder and mayhem culled from newspaper accounts.
Chapter 6 is a pen picture of some notable Cornish emigrants to Mexico while two appendices list workers at Real del Monte Mine in 1859 and 1874. The first of these describes their eye colour and the state of their beards and the second the monthly wages they received.
The Mexican connection at Redruth
Chapter 10 discusses some ways the Mexican connection affected Cornwall and contains some novel data on remittances sent back to Cornwall, including a list of these in 1859 with the amounts and the names of payer and payee. Further detailed descriptions of memorials in Cornish churchyards to those with Mexican connections can also be found in this chapter.
Anyone with a family connection to Mexico should find something of interest in this exhaustively researched book. Incidentally, a name index makes the search for particular surnames an easy one.
The book costs £17 plus postage (around £3 in the UK). Further details on how to buy it can be got from the author – Mike Kiernan, who can be emailed at cgmp@cornishmigration.org”
 

I’ve now finished reading your book – I found it to be excellent and need to contact you again about a few thoughts / contacts that you may be interested in. Stephen Lay, Cornish Mexican Cultural Society. Email 30/10/2020 Cornwall.

“The book is splendid. Really enjoying it Mike.” Dr. Alan Kent Email  20/11/2020 Cornwall

Hi Mike, Just to let you know  I received the book last week; our postal service has been quite slow.  The family is most grateful to your inclusion of our g grandfather. Lupita Duarta Clark Email 19/01/2021 USA Arizon.

Hello Mike. I have just opened a parcel from UK and it contained your book!
At a first glance, I can tell you I'm impressed by the amazing depth of your research!
And also I am very pleased to see you have autographed my copy! Thank you very much, indeed.
Next week we'll be gone to the beach and I will take it with me to read it at leisure. I am certain it will be fascinating reading.
¡Muchas gracias, Mike! DIEGO ECHEAGARAY17/02/2021

“The book arrived today. Although I know a bit about the Honeys, I know little about the other Cornish migrants to Mexico so your book looks like an excellent introduction.
I also learnt how the graves of some of my Honey great uncles in Mexico City are deteriorating. I must contact my cousins to see if we can do something about this.
I've been researching the transatlantic crossings by my "Honey ancestors" and it is interesting to see how often they came home. As you mention, Richard was back in Cornwall around 1881 and my grandparents travelled back at least once a decade. My father made 12 crossings between 1923 and 1952. Although the UK passenger lists started in 1878, I have not found any records o sailings to/from Mexico before 1900. Do you know if there are passenger records of sailings from Cornwall?
It seems the Honeys often travelled to New York and crossed from there. I plan to replicate as far as possible one of my father's 1930s journey back from Truro School: Queen Mary from Southampton to New York and the "Mississippi Sunshine Express" train through to Texas and on to Mexico City. In those days one could take a comfortable train all the way!
Congratulations on a good book.” Email 26/03/2021