John Curnow Millett was born at Penpol Manor on 5th January 1771 to Richard Oke Millett and Jane Millett (nee Curnow) and Christened at Phillack Parish Church in Hayle on 9th January that year at St. Clement.[18]
John was educated at Pembroke College, University of Oxford, (pictured 1) and graduated with a B.A. in 1793. Later that year he was ordained a deacon following which he was appointed Curate at Ludgvan, north-east of Penzance, on 28th October 1793 with a stipend of “£40 a Year payable quarterly”. He was ordained priest on 8 March 1795. [16]
On 16 Nov 1797, John married his first wife, Mary Thomas (1742 – 1806), in Phillack, Cornwall. [19] They had one child, John Thomas Millett. Tragically, Mary died on 27th February 1801.
John re-married on 5 Feb 1806 in Lansallos, Cornwall to Mary Honey. [19] Together they had no less than 10 children.
John was appointed Curate at Lansallos on 6th August 1816 11. Lansallos is a village in the parish of Polperro, some distance from his home at Hayle.
John Curnow Millett was a Partner in the Deed of 1828 in the Cornish Copper Company.
Children: [3]
- William John Honey Millet 1807 – 1881
- Honey Millett 1809 – 1847
- Leonard Millet 1811 – 1860
- Jacob Curnow Millet 1813 – 1863
- (Dr) Richard Oke Millet 1815 – 1897
- Hannibal Curnow Millet 1818 – 1881
- Caroline Millet 1820 – 1821
- Caroline Jane Millet 1822 – 1890
- Elizabeth Mary Millet 1825 – 1886
- Jane Millet 1826 – 1848
The 1841 Census Records show 70-year-old John living at Penpol with his son, Richard Oke.
John died on 13 Jan 1848 in Penpoll of “eating too heartily” (see below) and was buried on 19 Jan in Phillack, Cornwall. The burial ceremony was performed by the curate, RG Dangerfield.
Glasgow Herald (Glasgow) Saturday 30 January 1864:
An inquest was held at Hayle on Saturday last on the body of the Rev. J. C. Millett, who died at his residence at Penpol, on the night of the 12th inst. From the evidence given it appeared that the rev. gentleman had been for many years past suffering from indigestion and its attendant consequences and had lately slept by himself. He retired to bed early in the evening, apparently not worse than usual, but in the morning, not rising at his accustomed hour, one of the inmates on going into his bedroom discovered him dead. His appearance indicated that he must have died some hours before he was discovered, and from the unruffled state of the bed clothes, his death must have taken place without a struggle. Verdict "Found Dead". Source: Royal Cornwall Gazette (Truro) Friday 21 January 1848.
The Hayle station of the West Cornwall Railway is situated on the estate of Penpol; the residence called Penpol House is very close to the station and has been the seat of the Milletts and their ancestors for many generations. The last owner and occupier was the late Rev. John C. Millett, who was found dead in his bed on the morning of the 13th January, 1848, after the family had breakfasted. He had been a little unwell from indigestion, and was on sick diet the day previous, and took in bed, on retiring to rest at night, a breakfast cup of arrowroot and brandy. The next morning, he was found dead exactly in the same position as that in which he placed himself after taking the arrowroot. He slept in a room alone. A coroner's jury, at an inquest held at Penpol, on the 15th of January 1848, decided that the cause of the sudden death of the Rev. J. C. Millett was "eating too heartily," and they returned a verdict accordingly.
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