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26 chapters
CORNISH WORTHIES:
CORNISH WORTHIES:
SKETCHES OF SOME EMINENT CORNISH MEN AND FAMILIES. BY WALTER H. TREGELLAS. IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. I. 'Cornubia fulsit Tot fœcunda viris.' Joseph of Exeter (XIIIth century). LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1884. I Dedicate THESE SKETCHES OF SOME OF MY NATIVE COUNTY'S WORTHIES TO THE WORTHIEST OF WOMEN,— MY WIFE....
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PRELUDES.
PRELUDES.
For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: (for we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?'— Job viii. 8-10. 'Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us. The Lord hath wrought great glory by them through His great power from the beginning. Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms, men renowned for their powe
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THE MAN OF BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPIST.
THE MAN OF BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPIST.
RALPH ALLEN , THE MAN OF BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPIST. St. Blazey Highway has a clear title to being the birthplace of Ralph Allen; but his parentage is doubtful, owing to his name not appearing in the baptismal register, and to the obscurity caused by the two following entries in the Register of Marriages: 1686. William All——, and Grace ——, was mar—— 24th August (entry imperfect). 1687. John Allen, of parish of St. Blazey, and Mary Elliott, [5] of the parish of St. Austell, were married the 10th
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THE HERALD
THE HERALD
JOHN ANSTIS , THE HERALD. There were three Cornishmen in succession, more or less known, who bore the above name. The grandfather, of whom little more is now ascertainable than that he was Registrar of the Archdeacon of Cornwall's Court (then held at St. Neot's), [17] that his wife's name was Mary Smith, and that he died in 1692; his son, the subject of this notice; and his grandson, who, like the second John Anstis, was also Garter King of Arms, and who died a bachelor at a comparatively early
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ECCLESIASTICS AND WARRIORS.
ECCLESIASTICS AND WARRIORS.
THE ARUNDELLS OF LANHERNE , TRERICE AND TOLVERNE , ECCLESIASTICS AND WARRIORS. 'The princely Arundells of yore.' H. S. Stokes. On the north-west coast of Cornwall, famous for its magnificent cliff scenery and fine stretches of golden sand, are four lovely valleys 'Looking towards the western wave,' lying close together, and each watered by a little trout-stream; but, as is the case with Cornish landscape generally, with one exception scantily timbered. Each of these is more or less direc
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THE ARUNDELLS OF TRERICE.[31]
THE ARUNDELLS OF TRERICE.[31]
As the crow flies, Trerice, anciently Treres, as Carew informs us, is about five miles south of Lanherne and about the same distance from the mouth of the Gannel, one of whose tributary streamlets runs round the slope on whose southern side still stands great part of the handsome and extensive mansion of this branch of the family. It is not the original building, dating as it does only from the year 1573; but its charming and sheltered situation, 'its costly and commodious dwellings,' the rich c
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THE ARUNDELLS OF TOLVERNE.
THE ARUNDELLS OF TOLVERNE.
Whilst I write the following lines, there lies before me an extremely rare, if not unique, MS. chart of Falmouth Haven and its tributary waters. It was made by one Baptista Boazio in 1597, and on it is marked, 'Tolverne Place, Mr. John Arondell.' The chart is of peculiar interest, inasmuch as, in addition to the ordinary information contained in documents of this nature, it gives the names of the occupants of the principal houses at the time. Thus we find a 'Buscowen' at Tregothnan (then called
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THE MINOR ARUNDELLS.
THE MINOR ARUNDELLS.
The story of the Arundells of Cornwall is nearly told. There were, as I intimated at the commencement of this chapter, some minor branches, who perhaps deserve a passing notice: the most noteworthy of whom appears to be the branch that settled at the manor [43] and barton of Menadarva (== the hill by the water), in the parish of Illogan, near the sea-coast, and about three miles north-west of Camborne. This branch seems to have been founded by Robert, a natural son of that Sir John Arundell of T
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(DAME THOMASINE PERCIVAL, LADY MAYORESS OF LONDON.)
(DAME THOMASINE PERCIVAL, LADY MAYORESS OF LONDON.)
THOMASINE BONAVENTURA. (DAME THOMASINE PERCIVAL, LADY MAYORESS OF LONDON.) In the Churchwardens' Accounts for the parish of St. Mary Woolnoth, in the City of London, are the following entries, the first of which (and one of the earliest in the book) makes mention of a Sir John Percyvall, who had a chantry in that church. He was Sheriff in 1486, and Lord Mayor in 1498; received the honour of knighthood from Henry VII., and died circa 1504. The second, dated 1539, runs as follows: 'It'm receyved o
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THE ENAMELIST.
THE ENAMELIST.
HENRY BONE, R.A. , THE ENAMELIST. Amongst the worthies of Truro who have left 'footprints on the sands of time,' there are few more deserving of remembrance than Henry Bone, the only Royal Academician that his native place ever produced. He was born on February the 6th, 1755, and was the son of a cabinet-maker and carver, who is said to have been a clever workman, and to have carved the old pulpit of St. Mary's Church, Truro. One of the same name, and perhaps of the same family, a Walter Bone, w
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THE ANTIQUARY.
THE ANTIQUARY.
REV. DR. WILLIAM BORLASE, F.R.S. , THE ANTIQUARY. 'In the shade, but shining.' Pope to Borlase . The little parish of Ludgvan [71] (or as it is sometimes called, Ludgvan-Lees), on the north shore of the Mount's Bay, can boast of having contributed at least its share to the list of illustrious Cornishmen. Small, remote, and obscure as it is, Ludgvan is one of the places mentioned as the birthplace of Sir Humphry Davy; it was for more than half a century the residence of the su
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ADMIRAL THE RIGHT HON. EDWARD BOSCAWEN.
ADMIRAL THE RIGHT HON. EDWARD BOSCAWEN.
'A great Admiral.' Pitt. The foregoing sketch of the history of the Boscawens seemed desirable in order to give the reader some idea of the sources from which Pitt's 'great Admiral' sprang, and to serve as a background to the family picture in which his figure is the most prominent. We have seen that the Boscawens were an ancient, wealthy, and not altogether undistinguished group of Cornishmen; and have noted that their seat had for ages been on the banks of that sylv
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MRS. BOSCAWEN.
MRS. BOSCAWEN.
It is not too much to say of the Admiral's wife that she was worthy of him, and that she was duly proud of his name and reputation. We have seen how she thought her daughter Elizabeth was no unfit match for a duke, remarking that she was ' Admiral Boscawen's daughter;' and she was dearly fond of the sea, 'delighting in it (as she used to say) beyond all sights and all objects whatever,' until the mournful day came when he for whose sake she had loved it so dearly had ended his connexion with it
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THE MAN OF SCIENCE.
THE MAN OF SCIENCE.
DAVY , THE MAN OF SCIENCE. 'Igne constricto, vita secura.' Davy's Motto. The pretty little homestead—or as it is called in Cornwall, the 'town-place'—of Varfel, (or Barfell as it was sometimes spelt) in Ludgvan, lies on a southern slope, about two and a half miles N.E. of Penzance, and is a somewhat less distance from St. Michael's Mount, a view of which, as well as of the famous Mount's Bay and of the Lizard district, it commands. Varfel seems to have belonged from an early peri
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WIT AND DRAMATIST.
WIT AND DRAMATIST.
SAMUEL FOOTE , [129] WIT AND DRAMATIST. 'He was a fine fellow in his way, and the world is really impoverished by his sinking glories. I would have his life written with diligence.' [130] — Dr. Johnson. It is not a little remarkable that the fame of Samuel Foote, great as it was during his lifetime, and for some time after his death, has so rapidly dimmed; for he was not only a capital mimic, a boon companion, a most generous master to his subordinates, a ready wit, and an accomplished actor, bu
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STATESMEN, JURISTS, AND DIVINES.
STATESMEN, JURISTS, AND DIVINES.
THE GODOLPHINS OF GODOLPHIN , STATESMEN, JURISTS, AND DIVINES. 'A Godolphin was never known to want wit; a Trelawny, courage; or a Grenville, loyalty.'— Old Cornish Saying. 'Certes ,' says Hals, 'from the time that this family was seised of Godolphin, such a race of famous, flourishing, learned, valiant, prudent men have served their prince and country, in the several capacities of members of parliament, justices of the peace, deputy-lieutenants, sheriffs, [146] colonels, captains, majors, and o
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CORNISH WORTHIES:
CORNISH WORTHIES:
SKETCHES OF SOME EMINENT CORNISH MEN AND FAMILIES . BY WALTER H. TREGELLAS. IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. II. 'Cornubia fulsit Tot fœcunda viris.' Joseph of Exeter (XIIIth century). LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1884....
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ERRATA AND ADDENDA.
ERRATA AND ADDENDA.
Philip Basset was appointed Chief Justiciary of England by Henry III., in place of Hugh le Despenser, circ. 1260, after the attempt of the barons to seize the King's person at Winchester.—(Pat. 45 Hen. III., m. 8; and Rot. Claus., 45 Hen. III., m. 10 dors.) Many beautiful examples of his works are preserved at Mr. Hope's, Deepdene, near Dorking. The well-known non-juror, Bishop Trelawny, was a Dean of Buryan. See the seal of the Deans figured in Rev. W. Iago's paper, R. I. C. Journal, vol. viii.
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HEROES BY SEA AND LAND.
HEROES BY SEA AND LAND.
THE GRENVILLES OF STOW , HEROES BY SEA AND LAND. In his 'Worthies of Devon,' Prince, no doubt willingly enough, offers a compromise with Cornwall as to the ownership of the Grenvilles, and quotes Dugdale and Fuller to the effect that both Cornwall and Devon are so fruitful of illustrious men, that each can spare to the other a hero or two, even if wrongfully deprived of her own; even Carew has a somewhat similar passage, in which he says, 'The merits of this ancient family are so many and so gre
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THE SINGER.
THE SINGER.
INCLEDON , THE SINGER. 'The British National Singer.' His Majesty King George III. An artist might have a worse subject for a picture than the interview to which we are about to refer. The Vicar of Manaccan, the Rev. Richard Polwhele, of Polwhele, ever busy in gathering information about Cornwall and Cornishmen, one day near the beginning of the present century, rides over to the quaint and pretty little fishing-cove of Coverack, near the Lizard, to have a chat with old Mrs. Loveday Incledon
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DIPLOMATISTS, WARRIORS, COURTIERS, AND POETS.
DIPLOMATISTS, WARRIORS, COURTIERS, AND POETS.
THE KILLIGREWS ; DIPLOMATISTS, WARRIORS, COURTIERS, AND POETS. 'Fuimus.' A little ploughed field in the parish of St. Erme, about five miles north of Truro, on a farm still called Killigrew, is the site of the old residence of this distinguished family. Their place knows them no more; and even their own name is, with the sole exception just referred to, and in one or two instances where it appears as a Christian name of some of their remote descendants, 'clean blotted out.' Yet it was once—as th
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THE EXPLORER.
THE EXPLORER.
RICHARD LANDER , THE EXPLORER. 'Les fleuves sont de grands chemins qui marchent.'— Pascal. The interest which was felt in a portrait of Henry Bone, R.A., which I had the pleasure of presenting to the Royal Institution of Cornwall, induced me to offer for the acceptance of that Society the portraits of two other Truro worthies; which I thought (though the engravings possess no great merit as works of art) might at least serve as reminders of the energy, skill, and determination possessed by two T
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THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY AND ORIENTAL SCHOLAR.
THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY AND ORIENTAL SCHOLAR.
THE REV. HENRY MARTYN, B.D. , THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY AND ORIENTAL SCHOLAR. 'Atque opere in medio defixa reliquit aratra.' Anyone who would write the life of Henry Martyn, must feel that he is about to tread upon holy ground. For, however clearly we may see, on perusing his 'Journals and Letters,' [102] that his introspection was morbidly minute, his temper naturally irritable, and his religious views generally of the gloomiest as well as of an almost impracticable character, yet his ardent zea
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THE PAINTER.
THE PAINTER.
OPIE , THE PAINTER. 'A wondrous Cornishman, who is carrying all before him! He is Caravaggio and Velasquez in one!'— Sir Joshua Reynolds to Northcote. (Redgrave's 'Century of Painters.' ) Cornwall —so far as I am aware—has contributed only two members to the Royal Academy of Arts, since its foundation on 10th December, 1768. [112] Henry Bone, of Truro, and John Opie, [113] born in May, 1761, at Harmony Cot (once known as Blowing House [114] ), near the hamlet of Mithian, in the out-of-the-way pa
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THE ENGINEER.
THE ENGINEER.
TREVITHICK , THE ENGINEER. It would not be unreasonable to inquire how it can be necessary now to write an account of Richard Trevithick, seeing that only nine or ten years ago two elaborate volumes on the subject were published by his son Francis. [141] But, apart from the propriety of including so remarkable a man in the fasciculus of our Cornish worthies, it may be observed that the very amplitude of the 'Life' to which I have referred renders it inaccessible to the general reader; and moreov
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THE SOLDIER.
THE SOLDIER.
VIVIAN , THE SOLDIER. The nest of the Vivian family was Truro; here our hero was born, and here resided his father, John Vivian, who may be called the founder of the copper trade in Cornwall, and who subsequently became Vice-Warden of the Stannaries: but the present seat of the Vivians is Glynn, the ancient residence of the Glynn family, from which place the subject of the following remarks, Richard Hussey, first Baron Vivian of Glynn and Truro, derived the former of his titles. He derived his s
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