St Peter's Church, where Lach-Szyrma served as vicar from 1873 until 1890. The church opened in 1866.
The Reverend Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma, M.A., F.R.H.S. (25 December 1841 – 25 June 1915) was a British curate, historian and science fiction writer. He is credited as one of the first science fiction writers to use the word "Martian" as a noun.
Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma was the son of Krystyn Lach-Szyrma (1790–1866) and Sarah Frances Somerville (1802–1869). Krystyn was a Polish professor of philosophy who fled Poland c. 1830 to escape persecution amidst the November Uprising. He abandoned his teaching position at the University of Warsaw and started a new life in England, where he married Sarah Somerville of Plymouth. Their son Wladislaw was born on 25 December 1841 in the nearby town of Devonport - at that time Devonport and Plymouth were two separate and independent towns. Wladislaw's younger brother, Stanislaw Stuart Lach-Szyrma (18 February 1844 – 19 June 1844), died in infancy. Wladislaw married twice. His second wife, Rosina Atkinson (1846–1929), bore 13 children.
After studying the classics in a Literae Humaniores course at Brasenose College, Oxford, Wladislaw accepted a curacyinPensilva; so began a life of service to the Church of EnglandinCornwall. In 1869 he took the curacy at St Paul's in Truro, followed in 1871 by another in Carnmenellis. He became ill during a visit to Paris; after a short recovery, he returned to England to find that several newspapers had published his obituary.[1] For example, the following appeared in the Exeter paper The Western Times on 30 January 1871:[2]
Death of the Rev. W. G. Lach-Szyrma.—This
gentleman, son of the late Col. Lach-Szyrma, a Pole, was
born at Devonport. He was well known in this county,
and also in Cornwall, having been for some time curate at
St. Pauls, Truro. He was a young man of great talent
and promise, and his untimely death at the age of 29 is a
great loss. He was a high churchman, but he always
spoke kindly of dissenters, and especially regarded
Wesley and his works with great interest and favour. He
often preached in the open air, and made a great
impression upon the Moormen while residing at Prince
Town, Dartmoor.
From 1873 until 1890 he served as vicar of St. Peter's Church in the port town of Newlyn.[3] Left Newlyn in 1886, but continued his interest in Cornwall, its history and language.[4][5]
^Jenkin, C. J. (2009) Newlyn. A view from Street-an-Nowan. Penryn: R. Booth Ltd.
^Perry, Margaret (2000). "Eminent Westcountryman, Honorary Cornishman". The Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. 3 (3/4): 154–167.
^Gmerek, Katarzyna (2016). "Władysław Sommerville Lach-Szyrma and the Cornish Revival". New Trails and Beaten Paths in Celtic Studies. Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL. pp. 29–39. ISBN978-83-8061-324-9.
^Pool, P. A. S. (1974) The History of the Town and Borough of Penzance. Penzance: Corporation of Penzance.
