John Lanyon was the son of Walter Lanyon and Elizabeth Nanspyan.
John’s wife was probably Margaret the daughter of Sampson John Richard, they married at Madron on 24 Nov 1578. Jane Veale Mitchell notes that this John lived at Penolva near Paul but I don’t know the source of this fact.
They may have had a daughter Margareta who married Rev John Tremearne, the vicar of Paul in 1598. Margareta had two sons: Henry and Richard. Margareta died at Paul in 1603. John may have had a son called Samspon. There is no birth record but a Samspon Lanyon married a Johane Noy in 1602 at Sancreed. He could have been named after his grandfather Samspon John Richard.
John Lanyon moved to the Barton of Lanyon following the death of his father Walter in 1605.
Ann Lanyon abt. 1585 – 1662
John’s daughter Ann married Sampson Noye on 24 January 1602 at Madron. Sampson was the widower of Jane Trewren the great niece of Ann’s great aunt Isabel Lanyon (William Laniene Esq’s sister) who married Thomas Trewren. (See post ‘Lanyons, Trewrens and Noys’). Sampspon married Jane Trewren in 1587 and they had several children.
- Amy 1589-bef. 1680
- Elizabeth 1593-1609
- Robert 1594-1642
- Richard 1597-1598
- Thomas 1597-1642 married Elizabeth – five children
- Jane 1599-1601
- Chesten 1600-1655 married Maddern Champion – son Noye Champion
He went on to have several more children with his second wife, Ann Lanyon.
- Sampson 1602-1654
- George 1602-1653
- Richard 1606-1683
- Elizabeth 1609-
- Sarah 1610-1640
- William 1611-1673
- Thomas 1612-1652
- Margaret 1614-1629
- John 1615-1629
- Walter 1616-1694
Ann was buried on 25 Dec 1662 at Madron some twenty two years after her husband.
Francis Lanyon 1582 – 1661
Francis Lanyon was the eldest son. He was a successful Penzance merchant who married Elizabeth on the 19 Jun 1607 at Madron. Sadly the maiden names of women are rarely mentioned in the Madron register.
I found three children:
- Bennett 1615-1661
- Sampson 1616-
- Susanna 1619-
Francis is listed as taking the oath on the 1641 Madron Protestation Return. The Protestation Returns of 1641–1642 are lists of English males over the age of 18 who took, or did not take, an oath of allegiance “to live and die for the true Protestant religion, the liberties and rights of subjects and the privilege of Parliaments.”
Francis is mentioned in Penzance Mayoral records:
- Guildhall Penzance Mayor grants to Francis Lanion the profits of key (quay?) and pier for one year for £25
- Paid Mr Lanion 12/- on report of Dunkirk landed at Mousehole
- To Francis Lanion for repaying the quay’s man Suarez 12d (mansards?)
- To Thomas Jenkin and Francis Lanyon for repaying the quay’s mansards. 12d
Francis was buried 22 May 1661 at Madron.
Alexander Lanyon 1584 – 1671
Alexander Lanyon was the second son (he may have been named after Alexander Nanspyan, his grandmother’s uncle who was named on the Sithney Muster Roll of 1535), he married Philippa on 23 Feb 1614 at Madron and they had at least nine children. Some are mentioned in their grand father’s 1634 will which helps determine when they may have been born or died.
- Alexander aft. 1616-1624
- Anne 1616-aft. 1634
- Maud 1617-aft. 1634
- Peter 1622-bef. 1634
- Joane 1628-bef. 1634
- Walter bef. 1634-1715
- John bef. 1634-1673
- Alexander aft. 1634-1660
- William – 1624
Alexander leased the Barton of Lanyon from his cousin Jonathan Rashleigh and his descendants lived there until the late 18th century. Alexander was buried 24 Oct 1671.
David Lanyon 1586 – 1641
David (Davy) Lanyon was the youngest surviving son. His father’s will and the Madron parish registers refer to him as Davy. He married Joan Shutford, we don’t know the date of the marriage but Davy was buried 22 Jan 1641, and his will states that his son Thomas is 21, so he must have been born in 1620. His other children are all younger so estimated date of marriage is 1619 or earlier.
The transcript of Davy’s will:
“I doe give and bequeathe all my goods and chattels unto Joan Lanion my wife whom I doe make and ordaine to be my full and whole executrix and she to educate and maintain my children according to their degrees and calling till they or either or any of them accomplish the yeares of twenty one and then to give them portions according to her discretion and according to her ability.
- Item: My will is that after the decease of my wife my sonne Thomas shall have and enjoy all my terme and tyme in part of the tenement in Bussalloe that I hold by the devise of Sir Francis Langdon, Br, and Zenobia Prideaux, widdowe, deceased. (Zenobia Prideaux was the daughter of James Nanspyan, Elizabeth Nanspyan’s brother and a cousin of David’s father John.)
- Item: I doe give and bequeathe unto the said Thomas my sonne, ye land belonging to Lanion Mill after the decease of my wife during the terme and tyme I have therein.”
Signed Francis Lanion snr in the presence of Richard Carthew and Will Noye.
Davy and Joan lived at Little Bosullow which had been held by the Lanyons since the 13th century.
Davy and Joan’s children were:
- Thomas 1620-1695
- Joan 1622-1660
- Francis abt. 1623 – aft. 1655
- Ann 1628 – bef. 1634
- William 1634-1708
- Barnard 1638-1714
Francis and William were cordwainers (shoemakers and leather workers).
Joan Lanyon née Shutford was buried on 18 Jan 1655 at St Buryan. She left a will full of detail about her clothes. It gives us a rare glimpse into their lives.
The transcript of Joan’s will:
- To church, a ewe lambe.
- Poor of the parish 2/-
- Son Francis 1/-.
- David Lanyon son of Francis, 1 heifer, also his sons Francis and Jonathan each an ewe lambe.
- To Joane Lanyon, daughter, one sute of Lynnon and 12d.
- To son William £12
- Also son Barnard one brasse pan conteyning by 7 or 8 galls and 1 heifer, one year old, to be kept by his brother Thomas till she come to bee a cow.
- To Rose my daughter-in-law, my best coate, my best waistcoat and such of my lynnon as my son Thomas shall think fitt.
- To my sister Elizabeth Shutford one rideing coate, one yellow coate and two red coates.
- My kinswoman Alice Shutford one blew coate and one sute of lynnen cloth and a neck cloth with black spots.
- To my son Thomas all the rest and executor of my goods and chattels.”
Daughter in law Rose was the wife of Joan’s son Francis Lanyon.
The Lanyons 