{"id":504,"date":"2026-02-10T14:15:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/?page_id=504"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:39:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:39:55","slug":"cora-spargo-ne-waters-1901-1947","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/?page_id=504","title":{"rendered":"Cora Spargo n\u00e9e Waters 1901-1947"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wife of Obed (Tommy) Spargo) , mother of Alan and Lionel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cora Waters was born on the  19th August 1901 to Joseph Waters and Jessie Waters (n\u00e9e Gartrell) at Middle Kemyell, Paul. She was the youngest of eight children. Henry the second youngest died in 1902 aged 5. Her mother Jessie was forty four when she was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her eldest four siblings were born in Orange Massechussets between 1884 and 1888. Their father was working as a machine operator for at least some of the time they were in the USA. The family returned c 1889 and took over the farm at Middle Kemyell from jessie\u2019s father Henry Gartrell..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find out more about the Waters family click here<\/mark><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joeeph was a pioneer in the industry of market gardeing on the cliffs of West Penwith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are two pictures which include the young Cora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back Row Willie, Joseph, Jessie snr,Rene,Albert, Jessie.
Front Row Hazel, Elsie and Cora<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Coran and her father Joseph. There is tortoise in the foreground!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cora attended Paul School. Along with her school age siblings she had to walk from Middle Kemyell – about 2.5 miles each way. As the Paul School Board minutes frequently recorded, it was common for children to arrive wet to school. Sometimes they were sent home! Joseph Waters would occasionally take pity on the children and take them to school by horse and cart. (family story Lionel). She would have left school at 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By 1921 Joseph and Jessie had bought Boslandew House, one of the major properties in Paul. Joseph is still listed as a farmer. There is evidence in later letters and probate details that they held other parcels of land in Paul and continued small scale farming. The lease for Middle Kemyell may been being transferred to their son Albert (Bertie), who continued to farm there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She and Tommy started courting probably in their late teens, early twenties and then became engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Tommy\u2019s story here<\/mark><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She trained to be a music teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornishman 16.4.1924<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MOUSEHOLE. the recent examination of the London College Music the following were successful: Advanced intermediate, Esther Trembath, first class. Intermediate. Stella Symons and Edith Pender, pass. Elementary, Percy Trembath, honours. Pupils of Miss Cora Waters, A.L.C.M., Boslandew House, Paul. nr. Penzance v G59<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornishman 4.6.1924<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WEST CORNWALL NEWS. PENZANCE. At the Higher Examination held at the College of Music, Miss Cora Waters, of Boslandew, Paul, Penzance, obtained the diploma Licentiate of the London College of Music (L.L.C.M.) for pianoforte, theory and harmony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The invitation was sent to her c\/o Tommy’s lodgings in Highbury, so she must have stayed there in order to attend the examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two letters from Cora to Tommy have survived. They are from the last couple of months before Nellie’s death and there is a lot about how ill Nellie is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cora sounds very low at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

30th January 1925<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Sweetheart,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Got your letter yesterday. Mum had hers as well. She is pleased (secretly) to know you are thinking of coming home Easter, though she makes out it is me you are coming to see.  She says (illegible, on fold of paper and worn through) still manage to get to Lamorna at this rate, and its only her foolishness to think of it, she says it will take her all her time to get down by Easter. Her breath is very short….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2019Ive been cheered up since yesterday planning what I\u2019ll do if you come do come home Easter. It would be a lovely weekend and I can\u2019t help looking forward to it. Had a nice bath Saturday night and went straight to bed. Washed my hair Monday and it’s shining like silk now. Ernest Ladner asked me if I would teach his little girl, so that\u2019s one more. I\u2019d rather be busy now you are away, get really fed up when I\u2019ve nothing to do. Won\u2019t have any lessons Easter weekend, no fear!!!….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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21st February 1925<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lovely weather today and when I look out at it my heart is in my mouth. I\u2019ve had one or two \u201cweeps\u201d \u2013 on the quiet. I can\u2019t bear to see such sunshine and the birds singing as if they\u2019ll never stop. I makes me feel heaps lonelier. The hail showers have brought down the cold. Mum (Nellie) is just the same, a bit short on her breath still, but she will have it that she is better…..It\u2019s a good thing for me, the Choral.  If I didn\u2019t have that to do I should probably be down with mum and that isn\u2019t at all lively. I wish I could get a girl chum. I\u2019m fed up and getting old as the hills. Engaged girls aren\u2019t wanted much with younger ones. They think I am very slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They finally married in 1926<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Joseph Waters, Lionel Spargo snr, Mabel Chirgwin, Tommy, Cora, Beth Osborne, Marion Rowe, Jessie Waters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cornishman 21.7.1926<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you look at formal wedding photographs from this time, the subjects are rarely smiling. Exposure times were slow and required a pose to be held for some time.. This couple however are BEAMING!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And here they are on honeymoon in Ilfracombe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wife of Obed (Tommy) Spargo) , mother of Alan and Lionel Cora Waters was born on the  19th August 1901 to Joseph Waters and Jessie Waters (n\u00e9e Gartrell) at Middle Kemyell, Paul. She was the youngest of eight children. Henry the second youngest died in 1902 aged 5. Her mother Jessie was forty four when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-504","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=504"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1061,"href":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/504\/revisions\/1061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spargosykes.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}