Cornelius Ffurssen …
...who in the year 1702, obtained a grant from George, Prince of Denmark (husband of Queen Ann) to search for Averys treasure in Cornwall UK.. the first extensive search around the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall for Avery’s treasure, occurring just a few years after it was rumoured to have been buried there.
(below is some some excerpts from my recent original research into him ….)
The name Cornelius Ffurssen, or even just the surname doesn’t appear in UK archive records here in the UK at all, whilst the surname Ffürßen appears in Germany around the time. The ß letter is called Eszett or scharfes S (sharp s), which denotes it’s sound, which translates into a double “ss” in English. Similarly, a double “ff” in German dialect also denotes the sound of its pronunciation.
I found no records in the UK archives with the suggested northern European spelling of the surname! And as folks within this thread have mentioned earlier previously, there are no records in the available UK births, marriages and deaths records which fit him. Whilst searching the UK archives and other sources for potential alternative spellings, I’ve became very lucky – twice!.
Firstly a sole record in the National Archives at Kew (London) Reference C8/492/44 details a court case during 1710, with 6 defendants. Of the 6 defendants, only one of them uses his middle name, (which, by virtue of its inclusion, often indicates in old records an individuals “known by” name). In this case the name is.. John Cornelius Fursen.
Secondly, within the Great Britain Treasury Office Calender of Treasury Books, which are held and have been digitised online by the Trent University in Canada, an entry appears dated 3 May 1686 detailing a petition from the same name “John Cornelius Fursen” for the Customs authorities to allow the late landing of a shipment of 16 Hogsheads of Gum Seneca. (again a rarity that includes a middle name). There are lots of uses of Gum Seneca, back then it was a vital ingredient in fabric dyeing, an industry which the Ffürßen name within Germany in the early 18th century is associated with within olde German indexes of professions.
From those starting points, and the name John “Cornelius” Fursen to search for, and knowing this gentleman was of adult age between 1686 and 1710, (whilst bearing in mind his life occurred over 300 years ago…) There is only one John Fursen within old records that could be he... - here’s a little of what I’ve found about him...
I’ve not been able to confirm a date and location of his birth in England, and there are no official records of either of his at least two marriages within England that I have found evidence of. Indicating that he may have been born abroad, and/or also that his religious affiliations whilst he lived within England may not have been mainstream as only Church of England Marriages and Christenings are readily available here from that era.
He’s was a Yeoman (landowner) in South Molton, a small town in North Devon UK.. Whilst it may not have been his first marriage, he married Jean Hoyle, one of the daughters of John and Elizabeth Hoyle also of South Molton. He became a father with the birth of “John Fursen” in 1712 (there’s no Church of England christening record relating to his son,) Within 4 years of his sons birth his much younger than him wife, Jean Fursen, her sister Elizabeth Hoyle (his sister-in-law - an unmarried spinster), and his father in law John Hoyle had all died. He remarried a lady named Elizabeth shortly afterwards. (I’m not going to suggest here that he remarried his deceased wife’s mother/ his mother-in-law, but legal issues between John and Elizabeth Hoyle, brought by a local yeoman and shopkeeper William Ford appear to continue in later years with the name “Elizabeth Fursen” as the defendant – If it did occur, perhaps it was a marriage of convenience for the sake of his young son).
John “Cornelius” Fursen died a relatively wealthy man in 1721. His Will and Probate being one of just five wills and probate heard and proved by the Episcopal Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter during whole of the year 1721 (a probate court which covered the entirety of the south west of England at the time). A document which it would have been great to see, but after being held within the record office within the city of Exeter for over 220 years, the building suffered a direct hit during the Nazi bombing blitz of Exeter during World War II, when at the end of April/early May 1942, resulted in a fire engulfing all of the historic documents held there, including Fursens’ Will.
South Molton
I visited South Molton in Devon recently, It’s now an unremarkable small town, in a relatively poor part of England. The only building still existing from around Fursens’ time there being the main C of E Church which I now know he wasn’t associated with. (a time when the towns population was under 1000 peoples). It is just a stones throw from the North Devon coastal towns of Bideford and Barnstable, both of which having been suggested (depending on what you read) as where Avery spent his final days as a fugitive if he did indeed return to England. Despite being just a few miles away, the small town of South Molton differs from both of those towns in one significant respect relating to the Avery story. The South Molton historical records show it as being one of just a few areas in England with a prevalence of of the Avery surname around that time. With a “John Avery” even being an Innkeeper in the town. There is also a gentleman with a relatively rare surname at the time, who is also of adult age in 1702 when the first search began, called John Gill who resides within the town (knowing Fursen employed persons called Gill and Burton to pursue his search – the Burton name being more prevalent in Cornwall and not featuring in South Molton)
If anyone’s still reading this far … On balancing probabilities, I believe that “Cornelius Ffurssen” is “John Cornelius Fursen” of South Molton. I will forever be wondering what he had heard that led him to approach the crown for his consent to begin the 1702 first search. We know the deed he acquired ended up with as yet unknown peoples from Mounts Bay before the second extensive search began in Cornwall many years later. I think there’s little more to be found about him, it this is indeed him, and nothing that can help further in the town of South Molton. He would probably be surprised that his name lives on, forever to be know as the first person who failed to find Avery’s treasure!.
I set my mind and efforts into researching the second search, some 70 years later, under John Knill, the Mayor of St Ives at the time. The quinquennial celebration of his life whereupon 10 young virgins and 2 widows dance around the mausoleum he built for himself (but ended up not being buried in) happens on 25 July this year. The 9 surviving pocket books within which he detailed his notes on the second search are remaining illusive.. for now ...
