Cornish Pasties – 4565 Miles from Home!

Thomas Henry Pearce, aged 19, was 4565 Miles from Home.

He emigrated to Golden, Colorado in 1878 from Perranuthloe, near Marazion. The Cornish Mines were in decline but rather than follow the rest of his family to Barrow in Furness to work in the Starlside Mine, Thomas Henry took the plunge and made the 4565 mile trek to Golden, alone. I bet he took a Cornish Pasty on his journey.

The mine owners in Colorado were desperate for talent and were encouraging “Cornish Jacks” to make the journey, so Thomas Henry quickly found work in the gold and silver mines.

Alongside other highly experienced Cornish Miners, he would have blasted tunnels, timbered drifts and removed underground water. There’s an old Cornish saying, “wherever there is a mine, there’s a Cornish Man at the bottom it.

Henry’s Mum Died

Thomas Henry must of must have missed his Mum and Dad, the lush green hills and blue seas of his homeland terribly to begin with.  While building his first cabin, he lived in a dugout formed by digging into the side of a hill.

By 1900, Thomas Henry had homesteaded a beautiful valley between Central City and Golden and Thomas and his wife, Henrietta, raised eight children on their mountain ranch.  It was the largest in the area.

Their children went on to play an important part in this prospering area near to Denver. More than 100 years later, members of the Pearce family still ranch in Golden Gate Canyon.

We can imagine, when Thomas Henry’s Mum died in 1903, it must have taken weeks for him to hear the news. Today, we’re a phone call, a Skype or a face time away – good or bad news – from our far flung relatives.

We’re visiting clients here and fell upon the ranch buildings while walking in the Golden History Park just the other day. It’s a fabulous set up – well cared for by the local history society. Although, it amused me to see in their details they had Thomas Henry Pearce originating from Cornwall, Wales!

Why the story?

  1. Wherever there’s a mine, we will find Cornish Diaspora who’s forefathers displayed the same entrepreneurial traits and tenacity that we see in Cornwall’s talent today.
  2. You can buy Cornish Pasties in Colorado! It’s got to be worth considering for the export market? There are estimated to be close to 2 million people of Cornish descent in the US – how about a chain of Warren’s and a drop of Doombar out here. There are circa 10 restaurants boasting the Best Pasty in Denver.
  3. It may be 4565 miles from the Cornish Coast, but these days, whether you live in Golden Colorado, the Orkney Islands or Marazion – the technology is there to be able to work smart. On Monday, I will be ‘Zooming’ clients based in St Austell, Leeds and Loughborough to catch up on Smart Working updates – it will be as though we are in the same room.
  4. America is so vast that they are masters of the conference call and remote working.  The UK can learn from their experience – just like they learned from our mining experience back in the 1800’s.

We’re out in Denver speaking to businesses here smart working – other than remote working.  If you want to know about the range of options you can deploy to improve talent pools and productivity contact us here

Join us, for a very different approach to business challenges, in Cornwall and Brighton this Autumn.