Landowner Thomas John Cornish (1868-1958) was doubly Cornish: he was born in Cornwall, UK. He immigrated to Canada in 1888 then spent five years in New York, where he married Bessie McIntosh (c. 1870-1944). They had two sons, Fred and Willie, although it seems that their biological father was Bessie’s first husband. Fred would pass away in 1933 around the age of 48; he was apparently homeless at the time. Willie’s fate remains obscure. Regardless, the Cornishes first lived in Los Angeles around 1904-1908, then moved up to Bakersfield and bought a bakery in 1909. Three years later, they purchased a South Whittier citrus grove as remote investment property. The bakery burned down in 1924 and the couple was unable to sustain the business, so in 1926 they retired to their Whittier land – their house was addressed on Valley View Avenue – which Thomas sold in 1949 to subdivider E.J. Parker. Parker then named this street “Cornishcrest” to avoid conflicts with Cornish Avenue in Lynwood.
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