Clement and Henry Cornwall

The Cornwall brothers were the sons of the Reverend A.G. Cornwall of Ashcroft House, Gloucestershire, England, and were the direct descendants of a British aristocratic family.

They were both graduates of Cambridge University, and Clement had gone on to study law in London. It was there that the brothers heard of the gold fever in the far away colony of British Columbia.

The Cornwall brothers built the Cornwall Ranch, which soon became known as Ashcroft Manor. They travelled to Brtish Columbia in 1862.

Clement Cornwall records in his diary:

"Left Southampton on the 17th April 1862 in the "La Plata" a fine vessel of the Royal Mail SS Co and started on our way to British Columbia"
C.F. Cornwall Diaries, BC Archives MS -0759, pp1-149

Clement and Henry Cornwall travelled via St. Thomas, one of the West Indies islands. They travelled to Panama, and then off to San Fransisco. They arrived in Victoria on Monday June 2nd.

Clement Cornwall upon arriving in Victoria remarks:

"Rather disappointed with the look of the place, which was dull and slow after San Fransisco"
C.F. Cornwall Diaries, BC Archives MS -0759, pp1-149

Though their relative wealth allowed them to hire a great amount of labour to help with the construction of their roadhouse, they themselves worked very hard, in the beginning seven days a week.

Clement Cornwall and Family BC Archives A-01192

BC ARCHIVES F-07381 Charles Semlin, 1858

One of several managers the brothers hired over the years to oversee the day-to-day operations of the roadhouse was Charles A. Semlin, later the Premier of B.C.

Clement became the postmaster for the area in 1865 and then the district magistrate in 1867. When he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of B.C., in 1885 his brother took responsibility for the ranch's operation.

Clement married Charlotte Pemberton in 1870, and raised five children; Henry married Mary Josephine Eyre, and raised four children. Henry died in 1892, and Clement in 1910.

Clements remains are buried in the family graveyard at Ashcroft Manor. The last of the Cornwall family to live in Ashcroft Manor was Henry Cornwall's great granddaughter Vashti (Parker) Fisk who purchased the manor property in 1972. The Fisks approached several government agencies to assist in restoration of the deteriorating house to no avail.