Two of William Lanyon’s (1741-1808) sons married two of his great nieces which makes the tree a little more complicated!
William and Richard were the sons of Tobias and Prudence. William’s sons James and Richard married Mary Anne and Elizabeth the daughters of William’s nephew Tobias!
Richard Lanyon 1797-1863
Richard was chosen by lot to join the Cornwall Militia in 1821 but appointed a substitute. In 1824 he married Susan Tucker at Stithians in Cornwall. They had three children:
- William Henry 1825-1895 married Ellen Mary Edgcombe – 11 children
- Susan Tucker 1827-1829 died in infancy
- Richard Sampson 1828-1903 married Eliza Jane Mare – 9 children
Susan senior died in 1829 and in 1831 widower Richard married his cousin Mary Anne Lanyon, the daughter of Tobias Lanyon & Elizabeth Budge, they had a further five children:
- Frances Elizabeth 1833-1833 died in infancy
- Tobias Edward 1834-1891 married but no children
- John Rodolphus 1839-1931 married Emily Anne Hearle – 6 children
- Frederick Beverley 1841-1869 unmarried but left a son, George. George was a stationer in Southwark. He married Ann Lingard, eleven years his senior and they had no children.
- Charles 1842-1844 died in infancy
Richard was a gunpowder manufacturer at Stithians and in 1770 he lived at Acton Castle (built 1770).
Richard died age 66 after a short illness and was deeply respected and lamented. Mary Anne outlived him by 32 years and was still living at Acton Castle at the time of her death in 1898 aged 95.
James Lanyon 1803-1864
Richard’s younger brother James married his cousin and sister-in-law Elizabeth Lanyon at Stithians in 1837. James was a mine agent. He died after a long illness in 1864. They had four children:
- Ellen 1838-1915 married Henry Parrott – 3 children (Ellen also had an illegitimate son with her cousin Frederick Beverley Lanyon
- Mary Anne 1840-1841 died in infancy
- Henry 1842-1856 died young
- Mary Anne 1843-1844 died in infancy
Elizabeth died in 1856 and James married Esther Budge in London in 1861.
Esther Budge was his mother-in-law’s niece!
George Lanyon 1864-1922
George was the illegitimate son of Ellen Lanyon and her cousin Frederick Beverley Lanyon. The father wasn’t named on the birth certificate however he was named on his son’s marriage certificate. Ellen married Henry Parrott in 1867 and George became known as George Lanyon Parrott, he later reverted to the surname Lanyon and by the 1881 census he was listed as George Lanyon, step son of Henry Parrott.
If social media had been around in the 19th century it’s fair to say the Lanyons would probably have described their relationships as ‘it’s complicated’! Although perhaps not quite as complicated as the St Allen branch of the family.
The Lanyons 