Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

It also appears from Penrose’s Journal whilst he commanded the Maidstone, that she was one of the five ships under Sir George Ayscough that was ordered by the then Parliament of England to sail into the Sound, or German Sea, to assist the King of Sweden against the Danes. But a peace being concluded betwixt those nations, soon after the arrival of those ships, nothing of action was performed by them. Nevertheless, the King of Sweden rewarded the five captains of those ships in this expedition, with so many medals and neck-chains of gold, with the King of Sweden’s face on one side of the medal, and the several arms of those gentlemen on the other, weighing about eighteen ounces each together with the chain. Penrose’s medal is yet to be seen with his daughter.

In the year 1664, when another Dutch and French war broke out between them and Charles the Second, and able sea-officers were wanted for the fleet, Penrose (who as aforesaid for several years had been displaced) had divers letters sent to him from James Duke of York, and the Duke of Albemarle (formerly General Monk), by order of Charles the Second, requesting in this time of need that he would come up to London, accept of the command, and take the charge of the Monk frigate, in the Dutch war; which at length with some reluctance he accepted. In which post he discharged the place with such care and faithfulness as before he had done in the Parliament service. And, moreover, in the three sea-fights which the Duke of York and the Duke of Albemarle had with the Dutch fleets, (in all which he was commanded, though but a third-rate ship, to follow the admiral or general’s ships,) he behaved himself with such prudent valour and conduct (though with the loss of several hundreds of his men) that he preserved his ship, to the admiration of all that saw her, from destruction, though often boarded and surrounded with enemies.

In brief, those matters are so abundantly set forth in the several letters of thanks, after those engagements, from the said Dukes and their Secretaries to Penrose, that if I should take the pains to transcribe them, they would only be thought a romance, as containing in them almost unparallelled adventures and dangers, which he most valiantly and successfully passed through, in the midst of seas, slaughter, fire, and bullets, were not the originals yet extant, and to be seen.

Lastly, it appears from letters, and his Journal, which he kept daily for eighteen years’ space, which he spent at sea in the public service of his country, that in the year 1667 he was by Charles the Second made Admiral of a squadron of ships of sixteen men-of-war, which were ordered to cruise between Harwich and Newcastle towards the coasts of Holland, to watch the motion of the enemy. Where he received many letters by King Charles’s order from the Secretaries of State, War, and Admiralty, as also from the Dukes aforesaid (yet to be seen), containing thanks for his good service, and further desiring the continuance of his care, conduct, and watchfulness against the enemy, whensoever they should put out to sea again: in the mean time to observe such further orders as should be sent him.

In this kind of post he remained till his death, 1669, King Charles then owing him for his salary or pay above 1,500_l._ of which neither he nor his heir or executor ever received a farthing. His death was thought to be hastened through grief and vexation (being scarcely fifty-six years old when he died), and the occasion thus:――His ship, the Monk, being all manned with Cornish men in those three last engagements with the Dutch, who for the love and respect they bore him, their countryman, were all volunteers without being impressed for the public service; now it happened that, in the year 1668, peace being concluded betwixt King Charles and the States of Holland, the greatest part of our English fleet were hauled up, the officers, seamen, and soldiers disbanded, without satisfaction, wages, or pay for their service; and amongst them Captain Penrose’s ship and squadron underwent the same fate. So that soon after, he happening to be at London upon some occasions, his disbanded company of Cornish men from the Monk, being far from home, were very troublesome and tumultuous with him about their pay, and so clamorous as to tell him that he, by his fair promises, had cajoled them into the public service, and that now they could get nothing for their labour and the hazard of their lives.

The Captain answered for himself, as well as he could, that it was his own case, as well as many other officers’ and theirs, at this exigence to want his money, and therefore desired their patience till the King was better provided with cash for their satisfaction. But the Cornish men being more and more dissatisfied with him by those delays, and their wants and necessities pressing hard upon them, they formed a petition, setting forth the premises, to his Majesty, and with the same came to the Captain’s chamber, and endeavoured (after words would not prevail) to constrain or compel him in person to present it to the King’s Majesty, which he refusing to undertake, a scuffle happened at the top of the stairs between him and the petitioners; in which conflict one Lampeer, of Truro, by thrust of Penrose’s hands, his feet and hands failing, was thrown over the stairs, and so much bruised with the fall that soon after he died.

Whereupon Penrose was apprehended, held upon bail, and afterwards indicted before the grand jury of Middlesex or Westminster, and found guilty of murder or manslaughter, and afterwards was tried for his life, and by the grand and petty jury found guilty of manslaughter: that is to say, the unlawful killing of a man without premeditated malice, (which is felony, because wilful――but admits of the benefit of clergy for the first crime,) whereupon Penrose was condemned to death, and put into Newgate, where forthwith he received a reprieve or pardon of this offence from Charles the Second, under the broad seal of England, yet to be seen. Nevertheless, for the drawing, sealing, or procuring this pardon, the clerks and officers through whose hands it passed extorted from the Captain 200_l._ before he could get out of their hands to show it to the Sheriff of Middlesex.

This unhappy accident so troubled Penrose, that, to put off the thoughts thereof, he kept company more than ordinary with gentlemen and officers of the fleet and others; so that at length, by excess of drinking healths, and otherwise, he fell into a malignant fever, whereof he died, leaving issue one only daughter, his heir, named Martha, married to James Hals, of Merther, Gent.

Tre-gew, alias Tregue, in this parish, synonymous words, signifying the spear or javelin town, is the dwelling of Henry Edmunds, Gent. originally descended from the Edmunds of Middlesex, whose ancestor, being a person well qualified for the purpose, temp. James I. was sent from London by the Company of Pewterers to inspect and try the Cornish tin, then corrupted by the blowers thereof, before it was coined, that so the bad metal might be examined and taxed before it was coined, proportionable to the badness. In which assay-master’s office he thrived so well, that at length he became a tin-factor himself, grew rich, and bought this place, and other lands near, as also the manor of Truro, of Sir Bevill Grenvill, Knt. But he and his security failing in paying the consideration money, he was cast into prison, where he died without further satisfation to his said creditor; notwithstanding which, those lands descended to his heir, now in possession thereof, except the manor of Truro, sold to Samuel Enys, Esq.

The Cornish tongue was retained in this parish by the old inhabitants thereof, till about the year 1640. Mr. William Jackman, then Vicar thereof, Chaplain of Pendennis Castle, at the siege thereof by the Parliament Army, was forced for divers years to administer the Sacrament to the communicants in the Cornish tongue, because the aged people did not well understand the English, as himself often told me. Now because it may not be unacceptable to the curious to know the Cornish words then used in administering the bread and wine to the communicants, I will here set them down, for their satisfaction:

The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given
_An Gorfe ay agan Arluth Jesus Chrest toan fe ry_
for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto eternal life;
_rag thy, gwetha tha gorfe hag eneff, warthe Ragnaveffera;_
take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died
_kemera hag dybbery henna en predery may Chrest marnans_
for thee, and be thankful.
_rag thy, hag be grassylen._

Again:

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for
_An goyse ay agan Arluth Jesus Chrest toan the fowle rag_
thee, preserve thy body and soul unto eternal life, drink
_thy, gwetha tha gorfe hag eneff warthe Ragnaveffera; evah_
this in remembrance that Christ’s blood was shed for
_henna in prederry may Chrest’s goyse be towle rag_
thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith and
_tha, hag dybbery wor ren en tha gollon ryb creignans hag_
thanksgiving.
_grassylen._

Mr. John Lanyon, of this parish, a sea sand-barge daily labourer, had a son named John Lanyon, who having had his education under Hugh Boscawen, Gent. Master of Arts, who kept a school at St. Michael Penkivell Church, became afterwards a steward to Trefusis, St. Aubyn, Coryton, and lastly came into the service of Brook Lord Chandos, and having by these services accumulated considerable riches, he gave lands, and built and endowed an almshouse for poor people.

TONKIN.

Mr. Tonkin does not make any addition to the history of this parish, except by stating that James Hals, who married Martha Penrose, the only child of Captain Thomas Penrose, was “an elder brother of the author; and that their eldest son, then about fourteen years of age, was engaged in the pursuit of his grandfather’s profession, by serving as one of the King’s scholars, or gentlemen volunteers, on board the Sunderland, Captain Tudor Trevor commander, receiving about 30_l._ per annum of his Majesty.”

THE EDITOR.

Trelisick is now the most splendid feature of this parish. The situation, beautiful in all other respects, commands a view of the whole inland sea constituting Falmouth Harbour. The House was built about the middle of the last century, by Mr. John Laurence, a captain in the county militia, during the Seven Years’ War, still remembered for his good-nature, convivial habits, and wild eccentricities. It is perhaps deserving of notice that the architect was Mr. Davy, grandfather of the celebrated chemist.

The property became divided on Mr. Laurence’s decease; and it was purchased, about the year 1800, by the late Mr. Ralph Allen Daniell; other lands were added to the domain, and the whole became a handsome seat suited to the natural advantages of the place.

Still further additions and decorations have been made by his son, Mr. Thomas Daniell; but this gentleman choosing to quit Cornwall, has sold the whole to Lord Falmouth, the proprietor of Tregothnan, a still more magnificent seat, and removed from Trelisick only a few miles further up on the Truro river.

Mr. Thomas Daniell, the grandfather, was chief clerk to Mr. Lemon, and having married Miss Elliott, niece of Mr. Allen, of Bath, he found himself enabled to take the whole of Mr. Lemon’s great concerns off the hands of his executors in 1760; and soon after to build the house in Truro, remarkable not only on account of its being the largest and most decorated mansion in that very splendid town, but as being constructed of Bath Oolite, the gift of Mr. Allen, from Prior Park.

Mr. Daniell continued throughout his whole life to conduct most extensive concerns as a general merchant, as a tin smelter, and, above all, as a spirited adventurer in mines on the largest scale. He left one son and one daughter.

The daughter married the Rev. John Napleton, a dignitary in the church of Hereford, and previously tutor at Brasenose college, Oxford; where he is well known as the author of a work (“Elementa Logicæ, subjicitur Appendix de Usu Logicæ et Conspectus Organi Aristotelis”) which has been adopted into the lectures of every college throughout the University. The son, Mr. Ralph Allen Daniell, continued most of his father’s concerns, adding to them a large smelting-work for copper in Glamorganshire; and so successful were his mining speculations, that he is said to have gained, in the course of a very few years, above a hundred and fifty thousand pounds from Wheal Tower alone.

Mr. Daniell was twice Member for West Looe. He married the only daughter of the Rev. Mr. Pooley, Rector of Ladock, and has left a numerous family. His eldest son has married Miss Osbaldeston, and they have several children.

Killiganoon, probably the grove by the downs, is next to be noticed in Feock.

The place was entirely created by Mr. Richard Hussey. This gentleman was the son of an attorney at Truro, who died insolvent, leaving a widow with one son, and three or four daughters. The son is represented to have exerted himself with efforts proportional to the embarrassments in which he found the affairs of his family, and he became in consequence one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time. He had the honour of being appointed Attorney General to the Queen; and he was Counsel to the East India Company, and Member of Parliament, I believe, for Michael. Mr. Hussey died in the year 1770, under sixty, and divided his fortune among his sisters. One had married the Rev. Mr. Vivian, and her grandson is the distinguished officer, General Sir Hussey Vivian. Another sister married Mr. Walker, of Lanlivery, and left an only son, the Rev. Robert Walker, Vicar of St. Winnow. A third sister married Mr. Ustick, of Penzance.

Mrs. Mary Hussey, widow of Mr. Hussey of Truro, married, secondly, Mr. William Davies of St. Earth, a half-brother of the Editor’s grandfather, where she continued to reside; and her funeral appears on the parish register September 18th, 1750.

Killiganeen was sold after Mr. Hussey’s decease, and passed into the hands of Mr. Dagge. Two brothers of that name went to London from Bodmin to seek their fortunes. One became the manager of Covent Garden Theatre; the other pursued the law, to which both were probably educated, and ultimately retired to this place. It has since become the property of Admiral Spry, who improved and enlarged the house and the plantations; and it belongs at this time to his son, Samuel Thomas Spry, Esq. M.P. for Bodmin.

A coarse part of this parish remained uninclosed till within a few years, and was known by the name of Feock Downs. The surface appeared to be more smooth and even than any other piece of open ground in the west of Cornwall; consequently, when local political dissensions were at a great height, about sixty years ago, this place was selected by one party for establishing races, in rivalship of others conducted by their opponents at Bodmin. These races fell, however, with the temporary feeling which gave them birth, and the ground is now inclosed.

A small village in this parish is distinguished by the name of “Come-to-Good;” a name probably given to it at first in ridicule, because there was established the earliest Quakers’ meeting in that part of Cornwall. And, for some reason now quite forgotten, the first Sunday in August became designated all over that populous mining district as “Come-to-Good Sunday,” when several thousand persons continued to assemble, till the very prudent Society to whom the house belongs, adopted the expedient of discontinuing their meeting on that particular day.

This parish measures 2,580 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 2871 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 457 19 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 696 | 968 | 1093 | 1210
giving an increase of 74 per cent. in 30 years.

GEOLOGY.

Dr. Boase remarks on this parish, that the rocks are similar to those of Falmouth.

FOWEY, FOY, or FOYS.

HALS.

Is situate in the hundred of Powdre, and hath upon the north Glant, east the haven or harbour of Fowey, south the British Channel. For the name, it is taken from foys-fenton, i. e. the walled well or spring of water, rising about Alternun, St. Cleather, or Temple Moors.

In the Domesday Tax, 20th William I. (1087,) this place or parish was rated under the jurisdiction of Tywardreth. Neither was there any endowed church here extant at the time of the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester (1294), unless (what can hardly be supposed) Ecclesia _de Funum_ appropriata domui de Tywardreth, in Decanatu de Powdre, be a corruption of Faoi, or Foy-town. In Wolsey’s Inquisition, and Valor Beneficiorum, the Vicarage of Foye is rated 10_l._ The patronage formerly in the Prior of Tywardreth, who endowed it, now Treffry. The incumbent Trubody. The parish and town rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 195_l._ 14_s._ The rectory, sheaf, or impropriation, in ――――.

In the ancient chapel at Foy, now the minister’s chancel, was inscribed temp. Edward III. the name of Fisart Bagga, a famous sea commander in the then French wars, a native of this town of Foy. [Carew’s Survey of Cornwall, p. 135.] This church and town I take to be under the tutelary guardianship of St. Catherine, whose history is misplaced under Lanteagles by Fowey.

[Mr. Hals’s history of St. Catherine is lost. It may, therefore, be sufficient to give the following short statement of her legend.

In the Μηνολογιον, the _Menology_, (the Monthly Register, synonymous with Martyrology,) of the Emperor Basil, said to be composed by himself, but certainly written under his own inspection, St. Catherine is stated to have sprung from one of the families which in those times obtained a transient possession of the imperial throne.

She was probably born at Alexandria, and suffered martyrdom there under the reign of Maximus the Second, about the year 310.

Her learning, abilities, and zeal were so great, that, having been ordered to dispute with several of the most able philosophers, she confuted them all, and even converted some among them to the Christian faith. These new proselytes are said to have been instantly hurried to the flames, but that the Saint herself was reserved for a still more cruel fate, the persecutors of religion having contrived a wheel set round with hooks and spikes, for the purpose of tearing and lacerating its victim. The legends, however, go on to say that this horrible engine was dashed in pieces by angels, just as the tormentors were about to use it against the Saint, whom they nevertheless decapitated, unawed by the recent miracle, and no longer interrupted by any supernatural interference.

The body of St. Catherine was found five hundred years afterwards, when the Saracens had possession of Egypt, although it is not recorded by whom the discovery was made, nor how the identity was proved. A subsequent great event, however, placed that most important circumstance beyond all doubt; for it having been resolved to translate the body from the immediate power of the Mahometans to a monastery built on Mount Sinai by St. Helena, and augmented by Justinian, a company of angels, probably the very same who destroyed the wheel, conveyed the relics to Mount Sinai through the air.

Some recent martyrologists have endeavoured to explain away the latter miracle, by asserting that angels meant monks, who on account of the purity of their morals, the sanctity of their divine duties, and the eminent utility of their lives, are frequently confounded with the inhabitants of heaven.――It is almost needless to add that St. Catherine’s Wheel has uniformly reference to the intended instrument of her martyrdom, and never to a spinning-wheel, of which the Saint is sometimes supposed in England to have been the inventor. EDITOR.]

But for the church and tower of Foy, as it now stands, it was built about the year 1466, towards which Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, was a great benefactor; as appears from his badge, or cognizance, viz. ragged staves, yet to be seen cut in many parts of the stones of the said church and tower thereof.

The town of Foys is the voke lands of an ancient lordship by prescription, which the Prior of Tywardreth held of the ancient Earl of Cornwall’s manor of Pow-vallet-coyt, now Lostwithiel, or Restormel Castle, under the rent of ――――; from whom also they had their privilege of sending two members to sit in the Commons’ House of Parliament. It was incorporated by Charles the Second, by the name of the Mayor, Recorder, Portreeve, eight Aldermen, and a Town Clerk. Notwithstanding which, by ancient custom, the members of Parliament were elected by the freemen, (viz. scot and lot men, that pay rates and taxes) and the precept from the Sheriff for the writ for election of them must be thus directed: Præposito et Senescallo Burgi de Foy, in Comitatu Cornubiæ, salutem, &c. As also the writ for removing any action at law depending in Foy court-leet to a superior court, must be directed to the Portreeve and Town Clerk or Steward.

The arms of this town are, a ship in full course, with sails expansed, on the waves of the ocean. It is further privileged with a weekly market on Saturdays, and fairs annually, on Shrove Tuesday, May 1st, and September 10th. This town hath also added to its privileges some of the liberties and freedoms of the Cinque Ports, which other towns or harbours have not: what they are, the inhabitants there best know. Those privileges were first granted only to the ports of Hastings, Hythe, Dover, Romney, and Sandwich, in Kent, by Edward the Confessor; afterwards much increased in the days of the three Edwards, the First, Second, and Third: which in this place are too long for me to recite. Mr. Carew tells us, that in Edward the Third’s days sixty tall ships did belong to this harbour; and that the town of Foys did assist that King with forty-seven sail of men-of-war and transport-ships, anno Dom. 1347, in order to the siege of Calais; whereupon that King granted commissions to the chief commanders of those Foy ships to take French prizes, during his wars with those people, or French nation; so that in few years those Foy men were grown so rich and formidable, by taking French prizes, that by force and arms they would enter many ports of that kingdom, and carry with them all ships they could conquer, and what they could not, would use means to set them on fire in the places where they lay. In fine, when French prizes grew scarce, (I speak upon the authority of Mr. Carew,) they scrupled not to turn sea-robbers, or pirates, taking, plundering, and destroying all ships they could master, of what country soever, not sparing the sailors’ lives. By which means the townsmen grew unspeakably rich and proud and mischievous, which occasioned the Lord Pomier, and other Normans, to petition John, King of France, to grant them a private commission of marque and arms, to be revenged on the pirates and thieves of Foy town, which accordingly they obtained, and carried their design so secretly that a small squadron of ships, and many bands of marine soldiers, were prepared and shipped without the Foymen’s knowledge or notice, who accordingly put to sea out of the river Seine, in the month of July 1457, in 35th Henry VI. and with a fair wind sailed thence across the British Channel, and got sight of Foy harbour, where they lay off at sea till night, when they drew towards the shore and dropped anchor, and in the night landed their marine soldiers and seamen, and at midnight approached the south-west end of Foy-town, where they killed all persons they met with, set fire to the houses, and burned one half thereof to the ground, to the consumption of a great part of the inhabitants’ riches and treasures, a vast deal of which was gotten by their piratical practices; in which massacre and conflagration, the women, children, and weakest sort of people, forsook the place, and fled for safety into the hill country.

But others of the stoutest men, under conduct of John Treffrye, Esq. fortified themselves as well as they could in his then new-built house of Plase, yet extant, where they stoutly opposed the assaults of their enemies; whilst the French soldiers plundered that part of the town which was unburned, without opposition, in the dark. The news of this French invasion in the morning flew far into the county, and the people of the contiguous parts as quickly put themselves in arms, and in great multitudes gathered together, in order to raise the siege of Foy; which the Frenchmen observing, and fearing the consequence of their longer stay, having got sufficient treasures to defray the charge of their expedition, as hastily ran to their ships as they had deliberately entered the town, and as privately returned into France as they had clandestinely come into England, with small profit and less honour.

The town of Foy being thus consumed by fire, and plundered by the French soldiers and seamen, the inhabitants’ former wealth and glory reduced to poverty and contempt, they politically cast themselves at the feet of Richard Nevill, Earl of Warwick (aforesaid), who, pitying their distressed condition, and being Lord High Admiral of England, granted some of them new commissions for privateering and taking French ships, on promise of their just and righteous proceedings, and renouncing the trade of piracy (for which reason their former commissions were revoked); whereupon in few years they plied their sea-business so effectually, that they increased their riches to such degree that they began to repair and rebuild their damnified houses, and in the stones of many of them, in memory of the Earl of Warwick’s favour and bounty towards them, there is cut his arms, badge, and cognizance, as aforesaid.

Nevertheless (so hard it is for those to do well who are accustomed to do evil, as for a blackmoor to wash himself white) those Foy men, not content with lawful privateering, fell again to their old trade of piracy, robbing and killing the seamen of all nations whose ships they could conquer; of which they were again detected 18th Edward IV. 1478, who thereupon sent a messenger or serjeant-at-arms to Foy, to apprehend some of those delinquents, and bring them up to London to be tried for those crimes, in order to receive condign punishment. But, instead of obeying the King’s command and officer, in contempt of his authority they barbarously cut off his ears, and so dismembered sent him back to his master King Edward; at which affront the King was so distasted, that soon after he sent down Commissioners to Lostwithiel, under pretence of raising able seamen to go in war against the French, and that such amongst them as appeared most fit and able should have command of some of the King’s best ships. At this news a great part of the freemen and seamen of Foy were drawn to Lostwithiel; where they no sooner came, but immediately they were apprehended and taken into custody for the crimes aforesaid, their ill-gotten goods and chattels seized by the Sheriff and King’s officers, and one Harrington, a most notorious pirate, executed; and the chain of their harbour was removed to Dartmouth. (Carew’s Survey of Cornwall, p. 135.)

The harbour of Foy aboundeth with deep and navigable waters for ships of the greatest burthen, overlooked with winding and lofty hills, and, though narrow, extends itself in several branches three or four miles up the country, and is navigable to Lanlivery and Lostwithiel, St. Wenow and Laranbridge, and abounds with all sorts of fish proper to that country, as salmon, peal, trout, plaice, soal, millet, bass, eels, congers, pullocks, &c. here daily sold at a cheap rate. At the mouth or entrance of this harbour, are two petty bulwarks, or blockhouses, the Polman, or Porth-Eran on the Lanteglos side, the other at St. Catherine’s, under Foy town, most famous for a fight they had with a Dutch man-of-war of seventy guns, doubly manned, that was sent from their main fleet of ships of eighty sail, that lay at anchor and cruised before this haven, 16th July, 1666, then in pursuit of our Virginia fleet of eighty sail, which, escaping their cognizance, safely got some hours before them into this harbour, and, on notice given of the war, sailed up the branches thereof as far as they could, and grounded themselves on the mud lands thereof.

Notwithstanding which, this Dutch frigate resolved to force the two forts or fortresses aforesaid, and to take or burn our said Virginia fleet. Accordingly, it happened on that day, a pretty gale of wind blowing, this ship entered the haven, and as soon as she came within cannon-shot of those forts, fired her guns upon the two blockhouses with great rage and violence; and these made them a quick return of the like compliment or salutation. In fine, the fight continued for about two hours’ time, in which were spent some thousands of cannon-shot on both sides, to the great hurt of the Dutch ship, in plank, rigging, sails, and men, chiefly because the wind slacked, or turned so adverse, that she could not pass quick enough between the two forts up the river, so as to escape their bullets, but lay a long time a mark for them to shoot at, till she had opportunity of wind to tack round, turn back, and bear off at sea to their fleet, to give them an account of her unsuccessful attempt and great damage as aforesaid, to the no small credit and reputation of Foy’s little castles, manned out with gunners and seamen from the ships of the Virginia fleet for that purpose, who all, by reason of the walls and intrenchments thereof, were preserved from death, notwithstanding the continual firing of the cannons of the Dutch man-of-war upon them; whereby the contiguous lands by the bullets were ploughed up, to the terror and astonishment of all beholders.

After this engagement, the cargo of the whole Virginia fleet was landed at Foy, (its owners at London fearing the hazard of the sea in time of the Dutch war, to transport it there by water,) and gave opportunity to the townsmen to buy much tobacco at a very cheap rate, which instantly, upon the conclusion of the peace between England, France, and Holland, was sold in this kingdom, France, Spain, and Holland, at a dear rate, and much enriched the townsmen thereby, as Mr. Major, one of those merchants, informed me.

The chief place in this town is Plase, in British a palace, which is the dwelling of John Treffrye, Esq. so called from some of the many local places passing under that denomination in Cornwall, and compounded of treu or tref frye, synonymous words, signifying the free or manumitted town. He was the son of John Treffrye, of Rooke, Esq. that married Vivian of Truan; the which John Treffrye succeeded to the patrimony or lands of the Treffrys of this place, more for similitude of name than consanguinity or affinity of blood, by the will, devise, or entail of the last gentleman that died without issue in this house. The present possessor, as aforesaid, is John Treffrye, Esq. my very kind friend and kinsman, Member of Parliament for the town of Foy, whereof comparatively he is lord and high lord. He married Stephens. His predecessors in this place were gentlemen of great fame and estates, and have served their country in the several capacities of Parliament men for this town, justices of the peace, and sheriffs of Cornwall; particularly John Treffrye, Esq. was Sheriff of Cornwall 1st Richard III. 1482. He was a great benefactor towards building the present church of Foy, as appears from his arms being cut in divers places of the stones and tower thereof. Sir John Treffrye, Knt. (probably his son), was Sheriff of Cornwall 5th and 15th Henry VII.; William Treffrye, Esq. was Sheriff of Cornwall 16th Hen. VII. 1501, when Richard Whiteleigh, of Efford, was Sheriff of Devon. The arms of those gentlemen are, Sable, a chevron between three hawthorns Argent (i. e. summer thorn, hau, haw, in British is summer).

The chief inhabitants of this town, besides Mr. Treffrye, are Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Goodall, Mr. Major, Mr. Toller, Mr. Tyncombe, and others.

In this town Philip Rashleigh, Esq. temp. Charles I. built and endowed a hospital with the garb or tithe sheaf of the parish of St. Wen for ever, towards the relief of six poor widow women, two of the said parish and four from another parish, who receive weekly 15_d._ in money, and suits of apparel yearly, with other privileges, but are prohibited from begging the country, or any parish stipend. [See TYWARDRETH.]

This gentleman got great riches by trade and merchandize, and sea adventures; more particularly by a small ship or frigate, of about eighty tons, bearing about sixteen cannons or demi-culverins, besides small arms, and 60 men, for defence thereof; the commander of which ship had a commission from Queen Elizabeth as a privateer, in her wars with the Spaniards, to take all Spanish ships it should meet with at sea, and make them prizes for him, his adventurers, and the Queen’s advantage, which said privateer, or man-of-war, was so successful and fortunate in its adventures at sea for some years, and in traffic, and merchandizes, and prizes, that those gentlemen accumulated and laid up great riches thereby; and in remembrance and memory of this ship, caused the figure in memory of it to be perpetuated in a small ship, about five feet long, made and formed by a ship carpenter, of timber, with masts, sails, ropes, guns, and anchors, and figures of men thereon; which is hanged up to the roof, or planking, with an iron chain, in their old house in this town, of which ship those gentlemen have often given me ocular observation, as well as told me the above history of the premises, in the time of Charles the Second.

TONKIN.

Mr. Tonkin has not any thing of the least importance but what is copied from Mr. Hals.

THE EDITOR.

I have retained the whole of what is stated by Mr. Hals respecting the proceedings at Fowey, in the periods of its greatest prosperity and of its subsequent fall, given partly on the authority of Mr. Carew, (p. 313, &c. of Lord Dunstanville’s edition,) and in part from what he himself had heard. It must, however, be remembered that tradition always exaggerates facts, more especially such as bear unfavourably either on individuals or on communities, and that the times of Edward the Third were essentially different from those of order, protection, and impartial administration of justice, in which we have the happiness to live; nor can the license or excesses imputed to some adventurers at Fowey, be more abhorrent to our feelings than the mean artifice of a feeble government, practised to entice men from Fowey to Lostwithiel, under a pretence of enabling them to assist their country in the prosecution of a war, but really with the view of arresting them as criminals.

The fact of this port having sent forty-seven ships, with seven hundred and seventy mariners, to the siege of Calais in 1346-7, would exceed all belief, were it not established by national records; and Mr. Carew relates their vanquishing, in a private feud, the naval armaments of Winchelsea and Rye, two members of the Cinque Ports (p. 315). But these two ancient towns, and the Five Ports themselves, exhibit a contrast scarcely less remarkable than Fowey, between their actual appearances and the relative importance they must have once attained; except that Hastings is enlarged for the temporary residence of strangers, and Dover from the like cause, in addition to its being the well-known station for packets.

It is quite certain that the Priory of Tywardreth exercised considerable feudal authority over Fowey, which, however, not only fell into disuse after the general dissolution of monasteries, but, in all probability, was greatly diminished by the subsequent incorporation of the town.

The right of voting for Members of Parliament, up to the period when it discontinued to send any, in 1832, was vested jointly in resident payers of scot and lot, and in copyhold tenants of the manor taken from Tywardreth by Henry the Eighth, and annexed by him to the Duchy of Cornwall.

This manor was purchased by the late Mr. Philip Rashleigh, about the year 1800, under the powers created by the Land Tax Redemption Act. This gentlemen and his ancestors had long represented Fowey, and he was succeeded by his nephew, Mr. William Rashleigh, who subsequently sold the manor, and the whole borough property, to Mr. George Lucy, of Charlecot, near Stratford-upon-Avon. Mr. Lucy, in consequence, represented Fowey, and retained what he had purchased till in 1832 it became quite useless for all election purposes.

Mr. Joseph Thomas Austen is the present representative of the ancient and distinguished family of Treffry, one of the most spirited adventurers in mines, and of the most judicious and enlightened managers, that Cornwall has witnessed for many years. Mr. Austen has diverted a river for the use of machinery; and he has sat the first example of bringing a canal to mines, for the purpose of conveying coal and other heavy articles, from the sea-coast, and of taking down the ores, which are then exported from a harbour of his own construction.

Mr. Lysons gives an account somewhat different from that of Mr. Hals, respecting the final repulse of the French from Fowey. He attributes the achievement to one of Mr. Austen’s female ancestors; and, quoting from Leland, adds that after this event “Thomas Treffry builded a right fair and strong embattled tower in his house, and embattling the walls of the house, in a manner made it a castle, and even to this day it is the glory of the town buildings in Fowey.” The present possessor has, however, added considerably to the beauty of this “right fair” mansion, by completely restoring whatever might be defective in the existing parts, and by completing, or perhaps by improving, the original plan.

The late Mr. Philip Rashleigh, who represented Fowey during the greater part of a long life, added to his character of a most respectable country gentleman, the well-deserved reputation of a skilful and zealous naturalist, more especially in the department of minerals, to which, as a Cornish man, his attention would be more particularly directed. Mr. Rashleigh led the way in Cornwall as a collector, on a large scale, of the interesting and curious products of the mines, and left at his decease perhaps the most valuable collection of minerals belonging to any individual throughout England. Geology had not acquired the semblance of a regular science when Mr. Rashleigh directed his attention to the metallic ores, and to the chrystallography, not of Cornwall alone, but of all parts of the known world. He has given to the public two volumes of coloured engravings from his choicest specimens.

Mr. Rashleigh attained a good old age, with the satisfaction of witnessing the progress through life, in various lines, of the younger branches of his family, with the highest credit to themselves, and of leaving his ample property to a nephew in all respects worthy of receiving it.

For various further details respecting Fowey, the Editor must refer to the recent Histories of Cornwall.

Mr. Lysons gives an ample account of the descents or alienations of manors; and a very curious letter from Lord Thomas Cromwell to the Prior of Trewardreth, dated on the 21st of May, but without the insertion of any year, probably, however, not long before the dissolution. See p. 109 of Lysons’s Magna Britannia, vol. iii. Cornwall.

A considerable property was accumulated about the middle of the last century by two brothers, natives of this town, of the name of Lamb. One filled the office of Collector of the Customs at Fowey, the other practised medicine at St. Austell; both left their fortunes to an only sister, who after their deaths, and late in life, married Mr. Graham, a gentleman from London; through whom the property has passed to his nephew, Thomas Graham, Esq. Sheriff of Cornwall in 1806, a magistrate for the county, and resident within the limits of Fowey, where he has built a new and handsome house.

The parish of Fowey measures 1,726 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 4,856 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 473 16 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 1155 | 1319 | 1455 | 1767
giving an increase of 53 per cent. in 30 years.

Present Vicar, the Rev. John Kempe, instituted 1818.

Latitude of the Windmill near Fowey 50° 20′ 7″. Longitude 18ᵐ. 30ˢ. west. High water at the full and change of the moon 5ʰ 20ᵐ.

THE GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

This parish appears to be situated entirely in the calcareous series, near its junction with the porphyritic; and thus its rocks are very similar to those at the entrance of Falmouth Harbour.

FARABURY.

HALS.

Is situate in the hundred of Lesnewith, and has upon the north St. George’s Channel, or the Irish Sea, east Minster, west Trevalga, south Lantegles. For the name it is Saxon Fara bury, i. e. the far off hiding or burying-place, being a promontory of land shooting far out into the sea. Otherwise Fara-bury may be interpreted as a fair or beautiful burying-place. (See BURYAN.)

In the Domesday Roll it was taxed either under the jurisdiction of the Botterell, now Botreaux, or Tollcarne, now Minster. In the taxation of Benefices made by the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, 1294, Ecclesia de Farabury, in Decanatu de Trigminorshire, was valued xx_s._ In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, 4_l._ 12_s._ 8_d._ The patronage formerly in the Prior of Hartland, Lancells, or Minster, who endowed it, and passeth in presentation and consolidation with Minster. The patronage now in Amye; the incumbent Amye; and the parish rated, together with Minster, to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 98_l._ 7_s._ 4_d._; of which parish, in the first Inquisition (1294), I thus read: Abbas de Hartiland percepit de Eccles. Farabury p’ an. vii_s._ Prior de Morton (percepit) per annum in eadem vis.

TONKIN

thinks that this name means fare bury. The patronage in Edward Amy, Esq. as heir of Sir John Cotton. The incumbent James Amy, his brother.

THE EDITOR.

This is the least extensive parish in Cornwall. It probably owes its existence to the monastic establishment in the adjoining parish of Minster, with which, as a benefice, it has long been consolidated. The church is situated very near to the sea, and commands an extensive view of the romantic cliffs forming that iron-bound coast, with Lundy Island in the horizon. The name is sometimes written, and I believe always pronounced, Fotherbury.

This parish measures 432 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 859 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 81 10 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 140 | 212 | 223 | 358
giving an increase of 156 per cent. in 30 years.

GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

This little parish is formed by a belt of high and precipitous hills, and is principally composed of a very interesting rock. It is of a dark colour, does not alter in the streak, and abounds in iron pyrites; it is a kind of shale, and in the cliff, not far from the church, contains a layer of some carbonaceous mineral, to the intimate diffusion of which the colour of this rock appears to be owing. The section of the hill by the road side, from the church to Valancey Bridge, exhibits the layers of this rock convoluted and contorted in a most extraordinary manner; and the same appearance is beautifully illustrated in the cliffs at the entrance of Boscastle harbour.

GERANS, GERANCE, or GERRANS.

HALS.

Is situate in the hundred of Powdre, and hath upon the north St. Just in Rosland, east Verian, west St. Anthony, south the British Channel. For the modern name, Gerans, whether it be so called in memory of Geruncius, a king of the Britons, successor of King Rimo, that lived a hundred years before King Lud, according to Galfridus’ Chronicle, or if from Ferint ab Erbyn, one of King Arthur’s admirals at sea, I cannot determine; especially for that, in the Domesday Tax in Cornwall, 20th William I. 1087, this district, St. Just, and St. Anthony, all passed under the name of Ros-land, or Tre-gara-due, now the Bishop of Exeter’s manor of Tregare (of which more under) and Elerchy.

In the Taxation of Benefices in Cornwall aforesaid, 1294, Ecclesia de Sancto Gerando, in Decanatu de Penryn, is rated x_l._ porcionis Rectoris in eadem xlvi_s._ viii_d._; porcionis Prioris Sancti Antonii in eadem xlvi_s._ viii_d._ From whence it is evident that the Bishop of Exeter, lord of Penryn, and the Prior of St. Anthony endowed this church, the one half as a Rectory, the other as a Vicarage, viz. that of the Prior’s part. For the name of this church in the Inquisition aforesaid, St. Gerandus, whether it may not possibly relate to one St. Gereon, a Roman whose feast is October 12. In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, it is valued 15_l._ 6_s._ 0½_d._ by the name of Gerens. The patronage in the Bishop of Exeter; the incumbent Fowler; and the parish rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, by the name of Gerance, 156_l._ 16_s._ 4_d._

Tregeare, in this parish, was the voke lands of the Bishop of Bodmin, now the Bishop of Exeter’s great lordship, so called. In the Domesday Book for Cornwall, 20th William I. 1087, it is named Tregara-an, id est, the town of the friend, or lover, of God. Concerning the possession of this manor, by virtue of the Bishop of Exeter’s lease, there happened a costly and troublesome suit, both in law and equity, between Edward Nosworthy, Esq. then in possession thereof, and Hugh Trevanion, of Treligan, Esq. in the latter end of the reign of Charles the Second, James the Second, and part of the reign of William the Third (as I was informed). The case being thus:

The tenure of those lands being copy of Court Roll, or freehold for life, the Bishop of Exeter, the lessor, grants to the lessee a fee-farm lease of the said manor, for three lives absolute: and so, by custom and law, each of these lives named in the said lease are entitled to the land successively after each other’s death, and have power successively in like manner to grant copies of court roll to the under-tenants of those lands absolute for three lives, to succeed each other. Now it happened that Trevanion bought the remainder of one of those lives, in reversion, of Nosworthy or some other first life named in the Bishop’s lease; after the death of whom, Trevanion’s right by custom commenced; who accordingly delivered ejectments upon the lands and tenements of the said manor, by consent and approbation of the Bishop of Exeter for the time being, and brought down a trial at Launceston on the same, where the issue passed for Trevanion.

Thereupon Nosworthy filed his bill in chancery, prays a writ of injunction to stop further proceedings at common law, and to be relieved in the premises; where, after many commissions for examination of witnesses, and hearing of the merits of the cause in favour of Nosworthy’s title, it passed for him. The plaintiff Trevanion thereon prays that another issue at law might be directed out of Chancery to try this matter; which accordingly being granted, upon the issue it again passed for the plaintiff, and afterwards, as before, upon all hearings in Chancery it passed against him, by the universal opinion and judgment of the Lord Chancellors and Lord Keepers for the time being: “That it was contrary to equity and good conscience that any person, who was only named a life on the bishop’s lease, to the farmer of the manor, or the lives named on the farmer’s lease, or copy of court roll, to under-tenants, without ever paying a farthing consideration of money, should sell or carry away the original lessee’s estate, who pays a valuable consideration for it, or from his heirs or assigns after his death.” So that, in fine, Nosworthy’s title was confirmed by a decree in Chancery. But, as I said before, the cost of this controversy pro and con lasted so long, and proved so chargeable, as was very conducing to the ruin of both those gentlemen’s estates, (vide Cargoll in Newland,) Nosworthy absconding into Holland, and Trevanion procuring himself to be made one of the Poor Knights of Windsor.

It was the happiness of Cornwall, in the latter end of the reign of Charles the Second, to behold Mr. Justice Dolben, appointed for two or three Assizes one of the Judges Itinerant for this county, who so discouraged the injustice, delay, and frivolousness of many Cornish law-suits, and so uprightly and succinctly, upon proof of matters of fact and law, directed the jury as to their verdict, that there was little or no occasion for the wrangling and jangling arguments of counsel at the bar. He further told the people in general, that he admired how they should be so weak in judgment, as to be persuaded into so many lawsuits in this province, wherein was nothing but pride, heat, mistakes, or malice, by the advice and direction of lawyers and attornies, whose trade and occupation was only to get money, without regard had to the merit or success of their causes longer than their client could dispense with cash. Upon those and the like arguments of this upright and conscientious judge, the number of our Cornish trials was much abated, and fell from a hundred and sixty _venire facias_ brought to about seventy; so that it was generally hoped by this means we should have had as few lawsuits depending in this as in other countries, or that all controversies would be ended by references amongst ourselves, and that it would be said of the Court of Common Pleas by commission transmitted to Launceston, as was said of the Court of Chancery when Sir Thomas More was Lord Chancellor thereof, tempore Henry VIII., who by his upright judgment, and discouragement of trivial Chancery suits, had ended all causes depending therein, so that the clerks and counsel had no more business there to do; whereupon one made this rhyme:

When More some time had Chancellor been,
No more suits did remain:
The like will never more be seen,
Till More comes back again.

But, alas! this good Judge Dolben soon after, by the attornies and lawyers of the Western Circuit all in confederacy together, as the shrine-makers of Diana at Ephesus against St. Paul, prompted a petition to Charles the Second against him, suggesting that the overhasty proceedings of this judge, and his discouraging lawsuits, tended not only to the damage of his Majesty’s revenues proceeding from lawsuits in those parts, but to their great prejudice, hurt, and damage, in point of their support and livelihood, as having little else besides their profession and practice of law to subsist by; which petition Charles the Second taking into further consideration, against the next assizes he ordered the clerk to leave Judge Dolben’s name out of the commission of oyer and terminer, and then he was never more seen in those parts. Since which time the judges that come this circuit are content to hear with great patience the loud, reflective, perplexed arguments of counsel upon trials of small moment and concern, if not to suffer themselves to be at some times imposed upon in point of law and evidence therein, by the importunate arguments of topping serjeants-at-law, according to the magnitude of the fees they receive from their clients; so that it is become a proverb among those men in this province, it matters not what the case be so the client hath store of money.

Tre-ligan, or Tre-ligon, in this parish, (i. e. the legate, nuncio, or ambassador’s town, perhaps the rector’s,) is the dwelling of the said Hugh Trevanion, Gent. a branch of Caryhaye’s family. He married Crossman, the relict of Courtney of Penkivell, and had issue by her ―――― Trevanion, Gent. his son and heir, whose estate being greatly depressed by his father’s debts and lawsuits aforesaid, hath sold his patrimony, and is by Hugh Boscawen, Esq. Privy Councillor to William the Third, promoted to be one of the Poor Knights of Windsor as aforesaid.

Ros-teage, in this parish, (i. e. the valley house, or fair valley,) is the dwelling of Nicholas Kempe, Gent. that married Sprye; his father Williams of Probus; his grandfather Budge. Ther arms, Gules, within a bordure engrailed three garbs Or.