Hello All - I'm baffled. A lady has contacted me regarding her family, who lived in Tywardreath and St. Austell as far as we can determine. In the 1841 census, Peter CUMBE, 50, and Elizabeth are living in Tywardreath with their children, including a son named Peter, 13, and dau. Elizabeth, 11. Evidently, Elizabeth and Peter, siblings, moved to the U.S. circa 1852, but strangely landed in San Francisco. I wondered if they might have emigrated to Aus. first, then left Sydney for the US. But on to the central mystery. Elizabeth married almost as soon as they landed, and she and Peter stayed close throughout their lives. At their deaths, they were buried in the family plot, and have on each of their graves brick circles about 12 to 14 inches in diameter. No one else has this peculiar feature in the entire cemetery (that they know of). The lady is wondering if it's a "Cornish thing". The only idea that came to me was an Irish one, where a piece of "the old sod" was put on the burial site approximately at heart level. Has anyone heard of this custom of brick/paving placement? Or of putting dirt/grass from Cornwall on a grave? Was it a Victorian thing, rather than Cornish? Thanks for any ideas! Julia (and if anyone has links to the Peter Coombe/Cumbe family, please let me know!!!)