John Charles Lanyon was the son of John Lanyon and Grace Halls, he was born in Helston in 1800 but later moved to Redruth and in 1824 he opened an ironmongers in Fore Street. In 1840 by mutual consent the business ‘JC Lanyon & Thomas Lanyon Ironmongers, Curriers & Saddlers’ in Helston was dissolved and John Charles concentrated on his business interests in Redruth. He went on to become a partner in the gas works and other industrial concerns in the town.

In 1845 he was described as an ‘adventurer’ and was involved with Wheal Tehidy, Illogan & Redruth mine. By 1851 he was described on the census as a ‘merchant tanner, merchant shipowner and ironmonger’. In 1861, the census described him as a ‘merchant tanner’ who lived at Sparnon House. He retired on 31 Dec 1861.

On 21 Jun 1825 he married Mary Mead, the daughter of Simon Mead and Mary Andrew. Simon was a Redruth shopkeeper.

They had ten children of which seven survived to adulthood.

• Mary Mead 1826-1903 married Francis Truscott who was a classics tutor from Trinity College Dublin. They had six daughters and one son.
• John Charles 1828-1903 (see separate post)
• Elizabeth 1830-1904 married Edward Broadlake Dingley who was a draper with 8 assistants, there were no children
• Selina 1832-1916 married Thomas Cooper, a merchant, no children
• George 1833-1921 married Susan Ida Crisp
• Alfred 1835-1915 married Elizabeth Victoria Teague
• William 1840-1853 died young
• Sarah 1844-1844 died in infancy
• James 1845-1913 married Mary Anne Sargent
• Harold 1850- died in infancy

John Charles was interested in all sorts of things and the Science Museum has a letter from him dated 1860 sent to Francis Trevithick (son of Richard) stating that he’d ‘been making enquiries respecting Murdoch’s little engine…’ and giving Francis the information he obtained as a result of these enquiries. (Source: Science Museum TREVF/4/66).

In 1847 he was sworn in as a special constable during the Redruth Corn Riots.

John Charles Lanyon died on 23 Nov 1868 at Redruth and left an estate worth £35,000. His wife Mary was listed on the 1871 census as an imbecile (presumably she was suffering from dementia) and died shortly afterwards.

George Lanyon 1833-1921

John Charles’ son George was born 1833 and became a tanner in Falmouth. He married Susan Ida Crisp in Hobart, Tasmania in 1861.

They returned to Falmouth and had six children:

• Katherine Rosina 1863-1928 she was an artist and spinster who lived with her parents
• Theodore Tasman 1864-1949 married Bessie Michell Jose & Katherine Parry
• George Edward 1867 married Polly Bullmore
• Norman Crisp 1869-1917 married Dorothy Mead
• Hilda Maud 1873-1922 married Edward Augustus Bullmore, two sons
• Mabel 1879-1879 died in infancy

Hilda married Edward Bullmore, the brother of Polly Bullmore, who conducted a long correspondence with Jane Veale Mitchell (early 20th century Lanyon researcher) about the history of the Lanyon family.

George and Susan’s children L-R in order of age.

Alfred Lanyon 1835-1915

Alfred Lanyon was born in Redruth in 1835. He too started off as an ironmonger but his interests moved to gas and he was the proprietor of the Redruth Gas Works and he established the British and Foreign Safety Fuse Company.

Alfred married Elizabeth Victoria Teague in 1859 and they had eleven children:

• Charles Alfred 1860-1890 bachelor died of kidney disease, heart disease and exhaustion
• Ernest Alexander 1861-1863 died in infancy
• William Herbert 1862-1936 married Lilian Priscilla Vivian
• Victoria Grace 1864-1898 spinster
• Sidney Howard 1865-1922 married Susan Tremayne
• Elsie Mary 1867-1953 married William Thomas Lawrence – one daughter
• Edward Arthur 1868-? he may have emigrated and died in Tasmania in 1950
• Edgar Temple 1869-1949 married Beryl Gardner – one daughter
• Annie Ethel 1871-1956 spinster
• Ida Winifred 1873-1933 married William John Cropley no children
• Frederick Harold 1873-1908 stock broker, bachelor

In later life he had one of the largest tin smelters in the world. The output of tin from his smelting works amounted to £1,000,000 a year. He was also an alderman and Justice of the Peace.

He and his large family lived at Tolvean House in Redruth.

Alfred died of pneumonia on 5 Mar 1915 and left an estate valued at £239,934.

James Lanyon 1845-1913

John Charles’ youngest surviving son was James born in 1845. He moved to Lancashire and became a cotton and linen merchant. He married Mary Anne Sargent in 1868 and they had two children:

• Gordon Dingley 1869-1935 married Nellie Barnes
• Cleeland Mead 1873-1949 married Joseph Richard Buckley – two children

Grandsons

Theodore Tasman Lanyon 1864-1949

Theodore was the eldest son of George Lanyon and Susan Ida Crisp, he was born in Falmouth. In 1897 he married Bessie Michell Jose at Perranarworthal, Cornwall. They had four children. In 1938 he married for a second time to Katharine Myvanwy Jean Macleod Parry who was 46 years younger! Theodore was Fleet Paymaster for the Royal Navy.

George Edward Lanyon 1867-1916

George was the second son of George and Susan. He was a doctor and in 1902 he married Polly Bullmore. They had six children.

Norman Crisp Lanyon 1869-1917

Norman was the third son of George and Susan. He married Dorothy Mead, a cousin, and they had three children. Norman died on 16 May 1917 when he was shipwrecked in the English Channel by a torpedo.

William Herbert Lanyon 1862-1935

William was the third son of Alfred Lanyon and Elizabeth Victoria Teague. The 1901 census described him as a professor of music but earlier and later censuses describe him as having no occupation and having ‘private means’. He married in 1916 at the age of 54 to Lillian Priscilla Vivian. They had two children:

• Lysbeth Mary Priscilla 1917-2008
• George Peter 1918-1964 – (see post ‘Soaring Flight – The Artist Peter Lanyon’)

Sidney Howard Lanyon 1865-1922

Sidney was the fourth son of Alfred and Elizabeth. He was a gas engineer in his father’s business and in 1892 he married Susan Tremayne. They had three children.

• Alfred 1903-1964
• Lawrence 1906-1995
• George 1910-1982