THE family reunion of a mining family originally from Kelly and the Tamar Valley drew 199 members from all over the world recently.

The Yole family attending the reunion were all descended from a churchwarden who lived in Kelly in the 18th century, but the family had lived in the village since 1645 and were still there in the 1920s. There are still some family members in the surrounding area.

In the heydays of mining the Yole family spread into villages in the Tamar Valley such as Gunnislake and Calstock, and also into Tavistock, as they looked for work in the mines.

Following the collapse of mining locally, members spread to America, Australia and Canada in search of work.

Reunion co-ordinator Stuart Allen from Derbyshire— whose mother was a Yole — said he had the idea for the reunion two and a half years ago when eleven members of the family came over to see him.

The event was advertised in The Yole News, which he produces, with excellent result.

Stuart, who said the name Yole derived from the summer solstice, said: 'Kelly is our spiritual home. A lot of Yoles were born, married and buried at the church.'

Those attending the reunion stayed at Club Domaine at St Ann's Chapel, where there was a celebration and talk on the Yole family history on the Friday night.

After a tour around the local villages with family connections they enjoyed a pasty on Kit Hill and in the evening had dinner at the White Hart Hotel in Launceston.

The next reunion will take place in Australia in 2004.