Robert Morton Nance

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Robert Morton Nance (1873-1959) Born in Cardiff of Cornish parents. Nance moved to Cornwall in 1906 where he lived at the village of Nancledra near St Ives.

A leading authority on the Cornish language, and joint founder the Old Cornwall Society.

He wrote many books and pamphlets on the Cornish language, including a Cornish dictionary, which is a standard work, and edited magazines and pamphlets about Cornwall, including the journal of the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. Nance was also a nautical archaeologist of distinction and was an originator of the Society for Nautical Research. His insight and learning were displayed in his book 'Sailing Ship Models' which appeared in 1924. He studied art in Britain and France and was both painter and skilled craftsman.

Chronology of his life

1906 Robert Morton Nance (Mordon) moves from Wales and settles at Nancledra.

1911 Jointly founded the Society for Nautical Research.

1920 Together with Henry Jenner, founded the first Old Cornwall Society at St Ives

1924 Federation of Old Cornwall Societies established.

1925 Federation establishes periodical 'Old Cornwall'.

1928 Jointly founded the Gorseth Kernow which was inaugurated at Boscawen-Un, where he took the bardic name Mordon ('Sea Wave').

1929 Robert Morton Nance published 'Cornish for All' in 'Unified' Middle Cornish spelling system.

1951 - 1955 President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. [1]

1959 Died aged 86

Contents

[edit] A list of works

The Cledry plays: Drolls of Old Cornwall for village acting and home reading. (1956) Publisher: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. ISBN B0000CJH1W

Cornish for all: A guide to unified Cornish. (1961) Publisher: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. ISBN B0000CKWG1

Cornish-English Dictionary. (1955) Publisher: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. ISBN 0-902660-05-5

Classic Sailing-ship Models in Photographs. Reprinted in 2000 by Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-41249-0

[edit] References

Obituary The Times May 28th 1959

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Brian Murdoch, ‘Nance, Robert Morton (1873–1959)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 15 Nov 2007


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