In the 1860s, the decline of copper and tin mining in Cornwall left many miners unemployed. Like so many other Cornishmen John Nancarrow had migrated to Moonta in South Australia where the newly-opened copper mines were booming and work was plentiful. He had soon established himself well, and in August 1872 he nominated his brother William and his family to be Government-assisted migrants. Under the scheme that operated at the time, John lodged £42 in Adelaide as a contribution to their "passage or outfit".










