W. S. Lach-Szyrma

Rev. Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma M.A., F.R.H.S., (25th December, 1841 to 1915) was born at Devonport. His father, Krystyn Lach Szyrma, a Polish Professor, moved from Warsaw c. 1830 to escape persecution (around the time of the November Uprising), and married into the naval Somerville family in Plymouth. After studying the classics at Brasenose College, Oxford, his first curacy was at Pensilva. In 1869 he took the curacy of St Paul's, Truro, and in 1871 Carnmenellis. On his return from Paris, after a short illness (and his obituary published in a number of newspapers!),^[1] he became the vicar of St. Peter's Church, Newlyn from 1873 until 1890.^[2] He was a prolific writer on church history and the antiquities of Cornwall, especially of the district around Penzance. and was also a pioneer of science-fiction^[3]

Publications (selected)

• 1864: On the Relation of the Slavonians to the Other Indo-European Nations.
• 1878: A short history of Penzance, S. Michael's Mount, S. Ives, and the Land's End district. Truro: Lake and Lake.
• 1882: "M. Sebillot's System as applied to Cornish Folk-lore". Transactions of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society. New Series: pp. 132-150.
• 1883: Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds. London: Wyman and Sons
• 1884: Newlyn: Its History and Legends. Penzance: Oakmagic, 2001 (Originally published as: Newlyn & its Pier. Penzance : W. S. Lach-Szyrma, 1884.
• 1889: Relics of the Cornish Language. Penzance (with W. C. Borlase and S. Rundle) (reissued: [Dumfries?]: Oakmagic, 2008 ISBN 1904330975 )
• 1891: A Church History of Cornwall and of the Diocese of Truro. London: Elliot Stock
• ( ) Curious Churches in Cornwall.

References

1. ^ http://members.multimania.co.uk/Szyrma/
2. ^ Jenkin, C. J. (2009) Newlyn. A view from Street-an-Nowan. Penryn: R. Booth Ltd.
3. ^ Pool, P. A. S. (1974) The History of the Town and Borough of Penzance. Penzance: Corporation of Penzance.