The Courtneys originally came from North Devon, but my own branch eventually ended up in the fishing village of Paul near Newlyn on the southern coast of West Cornwall.  There has been talk in my family about being related to the Earls of Devon, but if we are, then the evidence has not as yet come to light!  Going back several generations the men of the family were in the Coastguard service and hence they could be and were posted to various parts of England.  My 2 x Great Grandfather, Robert Courtney, was born in Rye in East Sussex, as his father also called Robert had obviously been posted there. His mother, Blanch Leah Courtney (née Tonkin), became a widow at a young age and then later in life achieved a degree of fame as she became a favourite subject of many portrait artists who resided in Cornwall.  Her grandson, William Courtney (my Great Grandfather) was a stone cutter by trade and also later on he was a tin miner and fisherman.

Below, is a postcard quaintly labelled “Cornish Fishwives” which is a studio photograph of Blanch with a lady called Betsy Lanyon (on the left).