The Polperro Heritage Press was originally established in 1995 in Polperro, a small but much-visited fishing village on the south coast of Cornwall. Steeped in history and surrounded on its landward side by steep-sided hills, Polperro receives thousands of visitors every year, many of whom return again and again to enjoy its picturesque harbour setting.

Among the many attractions for visitors is the Polperro Heritage Museum overlooking the harbour, owned by the Polperro Harbour Trustees who originally set up the Polperro Heritage Press there. In 2000 it transferred to Clifton-upon-Teme in Worcestershire where it is now run by Managing Editor Jerry Johns.

As Cornish local historian Jeremy Rowett Johns, he is the author of Polperro’s Smuggling Story (first published 1994) and The Smugglers’ Banker (1996). He is also a frequent writer and broadcaster on smuggling in South Cornwall in the 18th century, not unrelated to the fact that several of his Polperro ancestors are known to have engaged in the trade.

Polperro Heritage Press

Cornish Guernseys & Knit Frocks

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By Mary Wright

In late 19th century Cornwall hand-knitting was a vital cottage industry and coastal villages developed their own distinctive patterns and names for the traditional navy blue Guernsey or knit-frock. Contract-knitting - the occupation of many Cornish women - had died out by the 1920s and was almost forgotten until author Mary Wright started asking old people what they remembered of it. Her research has resulted in a remarkable picture of social history. Cornish Guernseys & Knit-frocks includes many delightful contemporary photographs, and detailed instructions and charts show how to knit a Cornish Guernsey incorporating one of thirty local patterns.

Paperback 68 pages. ISBN 978-0955364884.

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£6.95

Gleanings from the Records of Zephaniah Job of Polperro

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By Frank H. Perrycoste

Frank Perrycoste’s Gleanings from the Records of Zephaniah Job of Polperro, first published in 1930, is based on a meticulous examination of the ledgers, letter books and other records discovered 100 years after the death of Zephaniah Job, the ‘Smugglers’ Banker’ who financed the smuggling and privateering trade that flourished in South East Cornwall during the latter part of the eighteenth century.

It amounts to one of the most detailed and comprehensive studies of life in Cornwall in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, providing modern historians and students of the period with an invaluable source of information on wages, prices of commodities and a wide variety of other aspects of life in the county at that time.

Paperback 250 pages, illustrated. ISBN 978-09553648-2-2

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£14.95

History of Polperro

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Since it was first published in 1871, the History of Polperro by Dr. Jonathan Couch, physician, naturalist and Polperro’s foremost inhabitant, has remained a popular and much sought after publication. Now, more than 120 years later, this specially produced casebound facsimile edition of the original will delight historians and collectors of rare and out-of-print books of Cornwall.

Unabridged, Couch’s original text includes fascinating chapters on the parishes of Talland and Lansallos, smuggling and privateering, Polperro people, their work, customs and beliefs in the 18th and 19th centuries. There is also an introduction by Jonathan Couch’s son Thomas, with an account of his father’s life and work.

By Jonathan Couch. Hardback (13.8cm x 22cm) 220 pages. (ISBN 09544233-7-2)

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£24.95

Jonathan Couch's Cornish Birds

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Dr. Jonathan Couch (1789-1870) of Polperro was Cornwall’s foremost naturalist in the 19th century, whose importance has been likened to that of Gilbert White.

Jonathan Couch’s Cornish Birds draws on the Royal Institution of Cornwall’s extensive collection of his material, in particular his hitherto unpublished study of Cornish birds begun in 1829, and his ‘Journal of Natural History’ of which 10 of its 12 volumes had been lost for over a century.

Roger Penhallurick has also added material from other contemporary sources. His book includes a short biography of Couch and notes of his local contacts and those of national importance such as Thomas Bewick and William Yarrell, both of whom corresponded with Couch.

Illustrations include engravings highlighting the difficulty of identification encountered by early naturalists at a time when ornithology was in its infancy; seasonal and sexual differences were not fully appreciated, nor were different species always identifiable from the black-and-white illustrations then available.

Edited by R. D. Penhallurick. Paperback (24.2cm x 18.5cm) 200 pages, illustrated. (ISBN 09530012-8-8)

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£12.95

Killigarth

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By James Derriman

On the Cornish coast between Looe and Polperro, the manor of Killigarth has a history full of drama. An Elizabethan lord of the manor was the subject of a plot to kidnap him and spirit him off to Spain. In the time of Charles II a clandestine midnight wedding was followed by a siege of the manor house, a series of lawsuits and the gaoling of the bride’s mother. Tenants of the manor have included Dr Jonathan Couch the naturalist, and Zephaniah Job the ‘smugglers’ banker’.

Paperback 152 pages. ISBN 0952284200.

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£8.95

Lewis Harding - Cornwall's Pioneer Photographer

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Lewis Harding - Cornwall\'s Pioneer Photographer is an extensively illustrated biography of Lewis Harding, one of the earliest exponents of the emerging art of photography in Cornwall in the mid-19th century.

The book contains nearly 100 of Harding’s remarkable photographs of Polperro and its inhabitants, many of which have never been published before.

By Philip Correll. Paperback 48 pages, 106 illustrations. (ISBN 0 9530012 4 5)

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£4.95

Marooned

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By James Derriman

In 1807 a British naval captain, Warwick Lake, marooned an 18-year-old member of his crew from Polperro, Cornwall, on the tiny uninhabited island of Sombrero in the West Indies. The seaman, Robert Jeffery, escaped to the USA but when the news reached England, a search was ordered by Parliament and even the prime minister of the time was involved. The lad was brought home to his family, compensated in part by Lake who was himself dismissed from the service. This extraordinary but true story based on original research is told in Marooned, first published in 1991 and now updated in this new, revised and fully illustrated edition.

Paperback 168 pages. ISBN 0954913779.

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£7.95

Polperro's Smuggling Story

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Polperro’s Smuggling Story is told through extracts from the letter-books of Zephaniah Job, the schoolteacher who became known as the ‘Smugglers’ Banker’ for his role in the highly organised contraband trade carried on in this Cornish fishing village at the end of the 18th century.

Featuring the exploits of the Quiller, Rowett and other Polperro families involved, it traces the voyages of the Swallow, the smuggling vessel whose capture of a valuable French prize laid the foundation to Job’s fortune, and the raids on Polperro led by Captain Gabriel Bray in search of hidden contraband.

This book also tells the true story of the Lottery; how the murder of a Customs officer, the hunt for the men responsible and the subsequent trial and execution of Tom Potter led to the first Preventive boat being stationed at Polperro.

By Jeremy Rowett Johns. A5 paperback 106 pages, 15 illustrations. (ISBN 0 9530012 0 2).

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£4.95

Portrait of Polperro

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Polperro is celebrated as one of the most beautiful villages in Britain but its history is less well-known and it is this intriguing and often exciting tale that Sheila de Burlet tells in Portrait of Polperro.

Chapters deal with the earliest records; the vital harvest from the sea; the two parish churches; the smugglers and their tales; customs, rituals and traditions; the water mills and the two great men of Polperro - Zephaniah Job and Jonathan Couch.

The beautiful and historically important photographs bring the narrative vividly to life and help make this the ideal history for local people and the perfect souvenir for visitors.

By Sheila de Burlet. Paperback (10.5in x 6.75in) 36 pages, 23 illustrations. (ISBN 0 9530012 1 0).

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£3.95

The Looe Island Story - An Illustrated History of St. George's Island

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The Looe Island Story is the first fully illustrated history of Cornwall’s most beautiful and mysterious island.

Once part of a monastic settlement, St. George’s or Looe Island is today owned by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

Author Mike Dunn traces its history from earliest times, describing its inhabitants and their smuggling activities in the 18th and 19th centuries as well as the famous Atkins sisters who owned it for many years until recently.

The island receives many visitors who come to enjoy its unique setting and historic past.

Mike Dunn. Paperback 112 pages. ISBN 0954913728

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£7.95

The Smugglers' Banker - The Story of Zephaniah Job of Polperro

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The Smugglers’ Banker reveals for the first time the full story of Zephaniah Job, the remarkable Cornishman who not only masterminded the flourishing contraband trade in Polperro during the Napoleonic wars but also the privateers whose adventures during the wars with France and Spain led to the capture of handsome prizes.

Job’s flair for business, his association with the Trelawny family and links with those engaged in the smuggling trade brought lasting prosperity to the inhabitants of this remote Cornish fishing village at the end of the 18th century.

This exciting and very readable biography, full of new revelations of one of the most extraordinary figures in Cornish history and packed with details of Polperro families of the period, will delight both local historians and visitors to the area.

By Jeremy Rowett Johns. A5 paperback 178 pages, 28 illustrations. (ISBN 0 9530012 2 9)

Weight 100 grammes.

Postal Type 1

£6.95