Hugh Lanyon was baptised on 22 May 1719 at Madron, Cornwall, the son of Francis Lanyon and Elizabeth Thomas. Francis died in 1757 and his 1759 will mentions that son Hugh was now living at Plymouth Dock.
PLAN of the LINES round PLYMOUTH DOCK, 1756.jpg- British Library, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
Hugh married Christian Williams at Madron on 6 Feb 1740. There were no children recorded from this marriage but Christian must have died as Hugh married for a second time on 19 Jan 1747 at Charles the Martyr, Plymouth, Devon to Sarah Row.
They had three children:-
Mary 1749-
Sarah 1752-1759
Hugh 1757-1760
Sometime between 1749 and 1752 they moved from Plymouth to Stoke Damerel, Devon. Hugh worked as a labourer.
We know very little about them but Sarah appears in the Devon Quarter Session records and through that we get a tiny glimpse of their life.
‘Sarah Lanyon wife of Hugh of Stoke Damerel, labourer – bound to appear next session accused of assaulting and beating William Dobey of Plymouth, salesman,’ (24/11/1757)
My husband recalled being told tales of a highwayman in the family when he was a little boy but just assumed it was a made up bed time story. A little research however reveals that it was probably true!
Highwayman holds up a coach, by illustrator E. A. Holloway – Wikimedia Commons
In 1814 Thomas Lanyon, William Butler and John Rymell were convicted at Warwick Assizes of shooting at Mr J Stanley with intent to kill on the highway at Leek Wootton, just outside Warwick.
There is a short newspaper account in Aris’s Birmingham Gazette dated 25 April 1814.
The jury retired for a few minutes to consider their verdict, they found them guilty and asked for mercy but Lanyon and Rymell were hanged at Warwick for their crime.
Thomas Lanyon was buried on the 1st May at Banbury in Oxfordshire. He was just 27.
Having discovered Thomas I needed to work out where he fitted on the Lanyon tree. It didn’t take long to find his parents and siblings. He was the son of Thomas Lanyon and Priscilla Nicholls who were married at Banbury on 12 July 1785.
Their children were born shortly after:-
William Nicholls Lanyon 1786-
Thomas 1787-1814
Harriot 1788-
Charles 1790-
George 1792-
James 1796-
Sarah 1797
The parish record keeper has helpfully recorded the occupations of the men presenting their children for baptism so we know that Thomas was a hairdresser.
Banbury Parish Register – baptism of Harriot Lanyon
We don’t know if Thomas was a barber or a wigmaker, perhaps he was both.
In a crowded salon, a wigmaker fits wigs according to occupation; Coloured etching by J.E. Marcus after J. Smies, c. 1810.
Priscilla Lanyon was buried in February 1814 and her husband Thomas was buried on 11 Dec 1826 at Banbury.
There is a record of a Thomas and Mary Lanyon presenting a son John for baptism in 1803. This Thomas is also noted as being a hairdresser. It seems likely that this is the son Thomas who was executed, although he would be barely 16 years old.
Where did Thomas Lanyon senior come from? After quite a search there was just one Thomas who seemed to fit the bill. Thomas baptised 13 July 1760 at Madron, the son of Richard Lanyon and Margery Riccault.
Having worked out where they came from the family disappears and I cannot find where they went. Perhaps the stigma of an executed brother was too much for them to remain in Banbury? Perhaps they changed their names? Perhaps they emigrated?
Peter Lanyon (1769-1827) had three wives, eight children and twenty six grandchildren! His eldest grandson was born in 1811 and his last grandchild was born in 1843. This post is about the grandchildren who carried on the Lanyon name.
In the 1860s the price of metals fell and many mines were no longer profitable. Mines closed and miners were unemployed. Many decided to emigrate. Wherever there were mines, there were Cornishmen! Whole towns sprang up and carpenters, blacksmiths and masons were needed to build them.
Francis’ father was transported to Australia and he was raised by his mother Ann Barnicoat Matthews in Penzance. In 1836 he married Catherine Harris and they had seven children
Hannah Maria 1837- Hannah is on the 1851 census, living at home and working as a household servant, no further trace
Catherine 1839-1931 married James Olsen, a mariner, at Madron and they emigrated to Canada.
Catherine Lanyon and James Olsen
Francis 1841-1911 – Francis was an engineer who emigrated to Pennsylvania, USA, no trace of his wife Susan Honeychurch. She appears to have been abandoned by her husband and by 1871 she was living with her parents and working as a charwoman. She had 6 children but only Theophilus and Catherine appear to have been fathered by Francis.
William Henry 1845-1875 was a soldier, a corporal in the 65 Foot who was invalided out of the army aged 29. He was described as 6’31/2” dark hair, brown eyes, sallow complexion, delicate constitution and could only do ‘light work’. He died age 31. He had served overseas.
Charles Winks 1848-1881 emigrated to Canada
Alfred Winks 1852-1881 emigrated to Canada, no trace of a marriage or children
John Theophilus Winks 1856-1864 died age 7 of Scarlatinal Nephritis
Francis Lanyon after 1881 with his grandchildren
Following his wife’s death Francis emigrated to Canada in 1881 and died there in 1888. Of his surviving children four of them emigrated to Canada and the USA.
John Lanyon & Rebecca Jane
John & Rebecca’s tree
William Lanyon 1826-1899
William married Caroline Jacka at Truro in 1848 and they had ten children! He was a miner at Chacewater.
William & Caroline’s tree
John James 1849-1936 tin miner, married Elizabeth Whitty in 1872 – 11 children
Thomas John 1850-aft. 1871, miner, married Emily Scobie – 3 children
Mary 1851-1858 died young
William Henry 1853-1858 died young
Harriet Jane 1855-56 died young
Joseph Charles 1856-aft. 1871 – grocer, there is a Joseph Charles Lanyon working as an auctioneer and a member of the Freemasons in Burma in 1891, after that no trace.
Richard Francis 1858-1896, tin miner, married Mary Ellen Williams 1879 – 6 children
William Henry 1860-1908, miner, married Caroline Jeffery 1883 – 12 children
Edwin Ernest 1862-1863 died young
Harriet Jane 1864-1945 – spinster
James Lanyon 1828-1891
James was also a tin miner at Chacewater. He married Caroline Pearce in 1850. They had 8 children.
Emma 1850- no trace after 1861
John 1852-1936 emigrated to Michigan USA became a mining foreman and married Elizabeth Jane Bennetts – 3 children
Rebecca Jane 1854- married William Matthews emigrated to ColoradoUSA – 2 children
Elizabeth 1856- no trace after 1871 census may have died or emigrated
James Henry 1856-1943, emigrated to Minnesota USA, married Agnes Jane Stewart and became a mining captain – no children traced
Lavinia 1861- domestic servant and no trace after 1881 census
Caroline ‘Kate’ 1864-1941 married James Pascoe in 1885 – 9 children
Frederick 1869-1921 miner, married Susanna Tregoning – 6 children
Thomas Lanyon 1828-1891
Thomas was a tin miner, he emigrated to Victoria Australia. No trace of a wife or children.
Francis Lanyon & Catherine Rundle
Francis & Catherine married at Paul in 1822. He was a cordwainer. They had five children.
Mary Anne 1822-1880 spinster
Thomas 1825- no trace after 1841 census
Catherine 1827-1891 married Henry Barnes five children
Anne Marie 1829- married Thomas Savage, one illegitimate son, Edwin Lanyon b. 1858 died infancy
Francis 1831-1895
Francis & Catherine’s tree
Francis Lanyon 1831-1895
Francis was a cabinet maker in Penzance. In 1854 he married Mary Hannah Clyma – four children:
Mary Thornton 1855-1856 died in infancy
William Henry 1856- no trace after 1871 census
Elizabeth 1860-1938 married Joseph Cox in New Zealand and lived with Robert Scott. From Robert there were seven children some known as Scott, some as Lanyon.
Thomas J 1863-1937 emigrated to New Zealand, married Elizabeth, no trace of children
Francis & Mary’s tree
William Lanyon & Ann Wills
William & Ann’s tree
William James Lanyon 1830-1924
William was a shoemaker, like his father, in Penzance. In 1851 he married Mary Ann Ancell (1831-1860), they had four children. Mary died giving birth to her fourth child, Mary Ann who died a few months later.
Louisa 1853-1857 died in infancy
Alice 1857- no trace after 1871 census
Ellen 1858-1937 emigrated to New Zealand and there married Henry Williamson – 11 children
Mary Ann 1860-1860 died in infancy
In 1869 William married Caroline Uren, a boot binder. They had a further four children:
Frederick 1870-1956, he was a newspaper compositor and married Edith Collins – 2 children
William James 1877 age 14 he was working as an errand boy – no further trace
Walter 1879-1880 died in infancy
Caroline 1881-aft. 1911 no further trace after 1911 census
Frederick Lanyon 1839-1869
Frederick was born in Penzance, married Mary Jane Branch and they emigrated to Australia and had four children. Frederick was killed in 1869 by a falling gum tree.
Gum Trees – Dorrit Black (1891 – 1951), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
David 1862-1943 married Johannah Lacey Dodds Jewaskiewitz in 1888 Adelaide Australia, 4 children
Mary 1864-1866 died in infancy
Elizabeth Mary 1866-1929 was born in Australia, married George Baldwin and emigrated to New Zealand – 11 children
Sarah Ann 1868- born in Australia, no further trace
Francis was the son of Francis and Rosamon Lanyon of Penzance, he was born about 1653. When his grandmother died in 1655 she left him a ewe in her will.
Francis’ branch of the tree
We don’t know the name of Francis’ wife, their marriage wasn’t recorded but he did have a son also called Francis in 1680.
Like his father, Francis was a cordwainer in Penzance. In 1695 he is mentioned as the principal creditor of Edmund Lanyon who died whilst aboard HMS Weymouth.
Edmund Lanyon’s administration AP/L/969 signed by Francis and William Landry
We don’t know where Edmund fits on the Lanyon tree as there are many gaps in the records.
Francis Lanyon abt. 1680-1757
Francis was the only son of Francis Lanyon. His baptism was not recorded but he was probably born about 1680. He married Elizabeth Thomas at Madron in 1708. They had seven children:
Francis 1713-1758 married Anne Lutey
Ann 1716-1757 married Richard Lembry – one daughter
Hugh 1719- aft.1759
Charles 1721-1757 bachelor, no children
John 1723-1727 died in infancy
Elizabeth 1726-aft. 1759 no further trace
John 1729-aft. 1759 living abroad- no further trace
So many in this family died in such a short time period that there was probably some sort of epidemic in Penzance. Francis senior died in April 1757, in November Ann & Charles both died. Jan 1758 Elizabeth senior died and in June 1758 Francis junior died. In 1757 there was a smallpox outbreak which may have reached Cornwall and also epidemics of measles and scarlatina and in 1758 an influenza epidemic. Perhaps one or a combination of illnesses affected this family. Daughter Elizabeth had to administer her father’s estate as the widow and heir had both died.
Source AP/L/1652
In 1754 Vesuvius erupted and that caused poor weather and sickness in subsequent years. The 1750s seems to have been a time of natural disasters and disease. Gangrenous sore throat and Angina Maligna (an obsolete term for: Acute necrotising ulcerative gingivitis; Diphtheria; Pseudomembranous pharyngitis) are described as being ‘very fatal’.
Francis married Anne Lutey in 1734 at Madron. They had six children.
Francis & Anne’s tree
Robert 1735-
Sarah 1736- in 1767 she married Thomas Shepherd, a hatter, they had three children.
Peter 1741-1771
Henry 1743-1747 died in infancy
David 1746-1768 unmarried
Anne 1748- married Richard White no children traced
Hugh Lanyon 1719- aft.1759
Hugh was baptised at Madron in 1719 and he married Christian Williams at Madron in 1740. There are no children from this marriage and she must have died before 1747 as Hugh married for a second time to Sarah Row at Charles the Martyr, Plymouth, Devon.
Plymouth – Charles the Martyr – bombed during the blitz
From Francis’ will of 1759 he mentions son Hugh and children now living at Plymouth Dock. There are three children traced.
Mary 1749-
Sarah 1752-59
Hugh 1757-1760
There are later marriages and burials of Lanyons at Plymouth but we can’t say if they are related to Hugh & Sarah.
Marriage register Plymouth Charles the Martyr 1747
Hugh was buried at Stoke Damerel on 17 Dec 1760.
Robert Lanyon 1735-
Francis and Anne Lutey’s son Robert was baptised at Madron in 1735 and in 1759 he married Martha Dyer at Plymouth St Andrew. Perhaps after his father’s death he went to join Uncle Hugh in Plymouth?
Robert & Martha’s tree
They had two documented children:
Sarah 1764- who married William Gains at Plymouth in 1784.
Mary Jensen 1772- no further trace
Possibly John Jenkinson Lanyon 1770-1835
Baptism register Plymouth St Andrew 1772
The researcher Jane Veale Mitchell believed that John Jenkinson Lanyon (see Irish branch) was the unrecorded son of Robert and Martha. The names Jensen and Jenkinson are both unusual and don’t appear anywhere else in the tree. John Jenkinson Lanyon used a ring with the Madron coat of arms to seal his letters so he must have had a connection to this branch of the tree somehow.
Peter Lanyon 1741-1771
In 1767 Robert’s brother Peter married Mary Carpenter at Madron. Peter was a cordwainer at Madron. They had three children
Peter & Mary’s tree
Peter 1768-1768 died in infancy
Elizabeth 1768- no further trace
Peter abt. 1769-1827
Peter senior died aged 30 and left Mary to raise the children.
Peter Lanyon abt. 1769-1827
Peter’s tree
Peter, son of Peter and Mary Carpenter had three wives. He married for the first time at Madron in 1789 to Grace Cock (1771-1793). There were two children from this marriage.
Peter 1790-1852
John 1793-1857
Grace may have died, possibly in childbirth, in 1793 as Peter remarried in 1795. His second marriage was to Mary Wall (1772-1806). This marriage produced three children.
Francis 1797-1857
Richard 1799-1973 was a grocer, he married Caroline Johns at Helston in 1822, no children
Ann 1803-1886 spinster died age 82
Mary died in 1806 and Peter married for a third time in 1807 to Ann Michell (1770-1839). They had three children.
Elizabeth 1807-1886 she married Charles Andrew at Madron in 1827 – six children
William 1810-1889
David 1813-1846 was a mason, he married Catherine Rebecca Davies in 1838 – one daughter died in infancy.
Peter was aged 58 when he was buried at Penzance in 1827. He had eight children and 26 grandchildren!
Peter Lanyon 1790-1852
Peter’s tree
Peter’s eldest son was also called Peter and like his father he too had three wives! In 1810 at the age of 20 he married Ann Barnicoat Matthews (1789-1822)
Francis 1811-1888
Peter 1813-1846 he was a mason who died in Bodmin Asylum a pauper with a ‘disease of the brain’
John Matthews 1815- John married Mary Addison Edmonds at Madron in 1836, they had one daughter Rebecca Addison 1838-1898 who married James Eva in 1855
A ‘disease of the brain’ could be anything from a disease to a head injury. Clearly it was serious as he died aged just 33.
UK Lunacy Patients Admission Registers 1846-1912
Bodmin Asylum is still a forbidding place today.
In 1817 Peter senior was convicted of larceny and sentenced to be transported for seven years. His wife and three young sons were left to fend for themselves. Peter arrived at Sydney, Australia on the ship Lady Castlereagh on 1 May 1818. He was described as 5’5″, dark complexion, dark hair and hazel eyes. He was a mason.
In 1824 he married Sarah Whittle at Parramatta NSW, Sarah must have died because in 1836 he requested and was granted permission to marry Bridget Delaney.
NSW Register of Convicts’ Applications to Marry 1826-51
Peter died in Australia in 1852, he never saw Cornwall or his Cornish children again.
John Lanyon 1793-1857
Peter’s brother John was a miner and in 1823 he married Rebecca Jane (1795-1870) at Kea in Cornwall. They had five children.
John & Rebecca’s tree
Joseph 1826-1889 he was a tin miner, he married Cecilia Rose Emidy in 1848. Cecilia had an illegitimate daughter Julia. Joseph had no children.
William 1826-1899
Emma abt. 1827-aft. 1871 was a tailoress who had two illegitimate children
James 1828-1891
Thomas 1828-1891 was a tin miner, he emigrated to Australia, no trace of any children
John died in 1857 at Chacewater. Chacewater was the centre of the mining world and there are a number of mines in the area. In the 1860s metal prices started falling and mining declined.
Peter and John’s half brother Francis was a cordwainer like his father. He married Catherine Rundle at Paul in 1822. They had five children.
Francis & Caroline’s tree
Mary Anne 1822-1880 – There is a Mary Anne Lanyon convicted of larceny which may be her
Thomas 1825- possibly married Mary Whear. Father of Milly 1860-1941 who married Edward Ladner in 1885. No further trace of Thomas.
Catherine Elizabeth 1827-1891 married Henry Barnes at Penzance in 1855 – five children
Anne Maria 1829- In 1858 she had an illegitimate son, Edwin who died in infancy. In 1859 she married Thomas Savage and they had one daughter, Mary Ann.
Francis 1831-1895
Shoemaker – Paul Renouard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
William Lanyon 1810-1889
Peter, John, and Francis’ half brother William was born in 1810. He was described as a ‘poor shoemaker’ on admission to the dispensary in 1829. In 1830 he married Ann Wills at Madron. They had six children.
William & Ann’s tree
William James 1830-1924
Mary Wills 1832-1904 married Edward Williams – no children
Louisa 1836-1904 married Richard Baxter Hocken – five children and she died in Yorkshire.
Joseph Phillips 1837-1847 died young
Frederick 1839-1869
Sarah Ann 1841-1921 married John Rose – two daughters, emigrated to New Zealand
We’ll find out what happened to Peter’s grandsons in the post ‘Peter Lanyons Grandchildren and the Great Migration’.
Francis Lanyon was the eldest son and heir of John & possibly Margaret Richard and he is described as a ‘gentleman’. He married Elizabeth on 19 Jun 1607 at Madron (sadly most women did not have their surnames recorded in the Madron register so we don’t know which family Elizabeth was from.) He was a Penzance merchant.
Francis signed the Protestation return of 1641/2. He appears on the Subsidy Roll for Charles I in Oct 1641 and paid £3 on goods.
I Oct 1655 the mayor of Penzance granted him the profits of ‘key and pier’ (quay) for one year for £25.
In Oct 1656 the ship Dunkerke landed at Mousehole and Francis was paid 12/-
The Penzance mayoral records also show that Francis and Thomas Jenkin were paid 12d for repairing the quay’s mansards.
Francis and Elizabeth had three surviving children: Bennett, Sampson and Susanna.
Bennett Lanyon 1615-1661
Bennett, Francis’ son and heir, was baptised in 1615 eight years after his parents married. Perhaps there were other children born before him? He too took the Protestation Oath in 1641/2. In 1647 he married Martha. They had four children:
Agnes 1648 – married Edward Polgrean at Zennor in 1687. Their only child was Benedict. He married Elizabeth Stephens in Jun 1721 and in Jun 1722, just a month after his son Benedict’s baptism, he died.
Francis 1651-1719 he married his cousin Dorothie Noy (née Lanyon) when he was aged 50. Their only child Martha died aged 4. His estate was left to his nephew Benedict Polgrean in 1719. Less than three years later Benedict was dead too.
Elizabeth 1654-1655 died in infancy
Elizabeth 1655- married Francis Ellis (Elies) – 4 children: Bennett, Sampson, Francis and Katherine
Bennett’s line finishes here.
Bennett’s Tree
Sampson Lanyon 1616-
Sampson was baptised in 1616 in Madron. In 1647 he married Margaret and had four children:
Agnes 1648- no further trace
Mary 1653- no further trace
Anne 1656-1661 died in infancy
Margaret -1661 died in infancy
Sampson’s line finishes here.
Sampson’s tree
Susanna Lanyon 1619-
Susanna was baptised at Madron in 1619. In 1640 she married William Tregeco. There are no further records of this family.
Alexander Lanyon married Philippa at Madron in 1614.
Alexander Lanyon’s tree
The parish registers have lots of gaps at this time so wills can be an additional source of information. John Lanyon’s 1634 will mentions numerous grandchildren and from that we can start to build a tree.
Anne and Maud were still alive in 1634 but there is no further trace of them. They may have married and their marriages have not been recorded or they may have 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
The only children who have recorded marriages are Walter, John and Alexander.
Alexander Lanyon aft. 1634-1660
Alexander wasn’t mentioned in his grandfather’s will so must have been born after 1634. He and his wife died within nine months of one another in 1660. We don’t know what caused their deaths but given that they were both only in their twenties perhaps they both died of TB which killed so many young people. They had no children so this line died out.
Walter Lanyon bef. 1634-1715
Walter Lanyon’s tree
Walter was the heir and he lived at the barton of Lanyon after his father. He married Mary and they had two sons:
John 1665-1733 married Margery Ustick – one son John
Thomas 1670-1723 married Alice Baynard – no children
Walter died 8 Sep 1715 at Madron and left a will.
Walter’s will 1715 – Source CRO/AP/L/1174
The will gives his son John the barton of Lanyon, son Thomas half his goods and cattle and his wife Mary land in Boswednan, Madron and Boswarva and these lands to go to his grandson John after her death.
He also leaves his suit of ‘best apparel’ to Francis Lanyon of Penzance and £3 to his beloved henchman Richard Wallish.
Walter’s son John married Margery Ustick in 1691 and their only child John was born the following year. John died in 1733 and the estate passed to his son, Walter’s grandson.
John junior married Elizabeth Huthnance the daughter of Henry Huthnance, the vicar of Breage. They had a daughter, also called Elizabeth, born in 1718. John’s wife died but there is no record of her burial. John remarried in 1725 to a Lanyon cousin, Jane Andrew. (She was the daughter of Isabel Lanyon and Matthias Andrew of Sancreed.) They didn’t have any children.
In 1954 William Lamparter corresponded with Miss Dorothy E B Hichens, the niece of John Hichens, who was then aged 90 and the great grandson of Richard Hichens who held the lease at ‘Lanyon’. She stated “The only thing I can tell you about Elizabeth Lanyon is a story handed down the family and told to me by my grandmother – that Elizabeth’s mother having died, the child was neglected by her father and her mother’s family paid a gypsy to steal her. They brought her up after which she presumably returned and married my ?? grandfather.”
His only daughter Elizabeth married Richard Hutchens (Hichens), they had four children: Richard, Jane, Elizabeth and Thomas.
John Lanyon was without a male heir and when he died in 1784 aged 92 he left the barton of Lanyon to his favourite granddaughter, Jane Hutchens. John was the last Lanyon to live at the old ancestral home.
John Lanyon’s will 1784 – Source CRO/AP/L/1878
Jane Hutchens renounced the bequest and from 1784 Mr John Hosking of Landithy, Madron took a 99 years lease of Lanyon for his two sons John and Thomas who failed to make a success of the farm and Mrs Elizabeth Hutchens’ grand sons, Richard and Thomas took the remainder of the lease and much improved the Lanyon estate. The old manor house was pulled down and a new house built. Thomas’ son, Richard Hutchens, died at Lanyon in 1889.
Jane Hutchens renounces the bequest from her grandfather. Source – CRO/AP/L/1878
This is the end of Walter’s line.
On 29 March 1927 Jane Veale Mitchell wrote the following:-
“Last Tuesday the weather improved and I went off to keep an appointment at Carne, in Morva with Mr John Hichens (St Ives family) whose great-grandfather Richard held Lanyon in Madron and Rissick in Madron, under 99 years lease or remainder. (For several weeks I have missed him when he came into Penzance; then we met and I went out). How glad I was, you can imagine when he brought in a great armful of oldish deed for me to see. Between us (and you too) we are sworn to secrecy in regard to these deeds, as the man would be pestered for them; as it is, he gave me the one I longed for and which explicitly explained what my instinct told me must be a fact i.e. that a Lanyon, as his fathers before him, lived and died at Lanyon in Madron in the year 1784, the very last one in the old Manor House, before Mr Hosking (who renewed the lease from Philip Rashleigh’s assigns) tore it down and built the present farmhouse.”
John Lanyon – bef. 1634-1673
John was the second surviving son of Alexander and Philippa. John Lanyon married Blanche about 1648, the marriage was not recorded but their first child was born about 1650.
John & Bennett Lanyon’s tree
They had seven children:
Mary – 1654 died in infancy
Margaret 1649-aft. 1673 no further trace
Bennett abt. 1650-aft. 1673
David 1650-1656 died in infancy
Dorothie 1659-1732 she married Thomas Noye in 1678 – six children. Then in 1701 she married her cousin Francis Lanyon – they had one daughter Martha who died age 4.
Rebecca 1661-1706 she married Humphrey Stodden – three children
Philippa 1666-aft. 1673 no further trace
Mary – 1654 died in infancy
We’re covered Dorothie in the post ‘Lanyons, Trewrens and Noys’.
Bennett Lanyon abt. 1650-aft. 1673
Bennett was born about 1650. He was the executor of his father’s will. We know he married but we don’t know his wife’s name. He had six children:
Mary 1673-1673 died in infancy
John 1673-1733 married Blanche Pendar
Mary 1675-1676 died in infancy
Ann 1677- married Alexander Johns in 1706 no further trace
Blanch 1678- no trace
Walter 1681- no trace
John Lanyon 1673-1733
John and Blanche married in 1723 when John was aged 50. His son John may have been from an earlier unrecorded marriage.
John died in 1733 and his will begins “being penitent and very sorry for my sins”. One wonders what he had done!
John Lanyon’s will 1733 source: CRO/AP/L/1371
There is no record of John and Blanche’s son being baptised, married or buried. His father left him 1/- in his will which suggests he had already inherited. In 1752 he had the role of Accessionable Manor’s Commissioner and we know nothing else about him.
And this is where we must leave Alexander’s line, there are no more traceable Lanyon descendants.
Interestingly on 5 Mar 1781 an Alexander Lanyon died in Penzance aged 100. There is no record of any Alexander Lanyon being baptised about 100 years earlier. Could he be a descendant of this line?
John Charles Lanyon was the eldest son and heir of John Charles Lanyon and Mary Mead of Redruth.
By the age of 22 he was a partner in the British Arsenic Company and and in 1849 he set sail for Adelaide, Australia on the ship ‘Candahar’ to establish a hardware and ironmongery business. On the journey he met George Peter Harris and they were founding partners of a very successful business which became Harris Scarfe, a major supplier of a range of household, agricultural and industrial items in Australia.
In 1855 John Charles left the partnership and returned to London where he opened a buying house for Harris Scarfe and other businesses in Australia. the London end of the business was JC Lanyon & Sons. There were several subsidiary companies: Australasian China & Glass Co, Australasian Implement & House Furnishing Co, The Adelaide Rope, Nail and Barb Wire Manufacturing Co.
In the 1860s with the decline in the copper industry he purchased £12,000 worth of equipment from Poldice Mine and JC. Lanyon & sons became a major dealer and exporter of mining equipment. In 1873 he bought £7,750 worth of equipment from Wheal Busy.
By 1887 he and his brother Alfred had set up the Cornish Tin Smelting with John Branwell and John Jose, they were also major shareholders in the lucrative East Pool mine where most of the ore for their new works came from. (Source: Barton 1967)
In 1857 he married Jane Stacy Bennett, the daughter of Charles Bennett and Jane Stacy.
Jane Stacy Bennett
Jane was born in 1837 in Redruth. Jane’s family lived at 15 Fore Street next door to the Lanyons at number 16. Charles Bennett was a merchant and draper.
After marriage they moved to Croydon in Surrey as John was working in London. John and Jane had eight children:
Alice Mary 1859-1942 married Walter Paton Hindley – four children
Jane Stacey 1861-1949 spinster
John Charles 1862-1862 died in infancy
Sydney Howard 1864-1914 bachelor, rejected by the army and committed suicide in front of his nephew by jumping off Westminster Bridge on 24 Oct 1914. His body was found at Rotherhithe on 4 Nov.
Arthur Herbert 1866-1947 married Catherine Septima Lamotte
Vivian 1868-1941 married Esther Eliza Crowe, his nurse. He went to Jesus College, Cambridge and worked as a colonial agent. No children.
Mabel 1870 married James Charles Buckley, a doctor, they had four children
Alfred Leonard 1871-1871 died in infancy
In 1878 they purchased Birdhurst in Croydon.
Birdhurst became a school after the Lanyons left in 1908.
A description of the residence.
“an agreeable and retired residence delightfully situated with gardens and plantations in a beautiful valley leading from the town of Croydon to Croham House”
Mabel (May) Lanyon’s diary.
John Charles Lanyon died in 1903 and was buried in Queen’s Road cemetery, Croydon. He left an estate valued at £199,134.
Grave site of John Charles Lanyon Queen’s Road Cemetery in Croydon, Greater London, England, United Kingdom from BillionGraves
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.
Susan Ida Crisp
They returned to Falmouth and had six children:
George & Susan’s tree
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.
Tolvean House, 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.
Polly with a child on her knee, sitting in front of her father-in-law, George Lanyon
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 Herbert (Willie) Lanyon
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’)
William’s bookplate
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.
John was born in 1769 in Helston the son of Charles Francis Lanyon and like his four brothers he was a cordwainer and currier however he also diversified into ironmongery. When he died in 1835 after “a very long affliction” his estate was worth £4000.
John married Grace Halls (the daughter of Jacob Halls and Grace Rundle) on 3 May 1796 at St Austell.
John & Grace’s tree
John and Grace had nine children of which seven survived to adulthood.
Jacob Hall 1797-1827 married Mary Hammill – one child
John Charles 1800-1868 married Mary Mead – ten children (see post about John Charles Lanyon)
Thomas 1802-1855 married Margery Lawrey Trelevan – nine children
George 1805-1851 married Caroline Penberthy – ten children
Samuel James 1807-1809 died in infancy
Silena 1809-1870 spinster
Elizabeth Rundle 1812-1828 died young
Joseph James 1817-1887 married Elizabeth Cunnack – four children
Alfred 1819-1842 unmarried
Jacob Hall Lanyon 1797-1827
John and Grace’s eldest son and heir Jacob died before his father.
Jacob was an ironmonger and must have known he was going to die as he made a will three months before his death. He leaves Mary, his wife, an annuity of £10, the piano, a mahogany chest of drawers and a mahogany desk. His business interests he leaves to his father John.
Jacob’s will CRO/AP/L/2242
Jacob and Mary’s only son was born in 1827 and only survived a few months.
Thomas Lanyon 1802-1855
Thomas was born in 1802 and was an ironmonger and currier employing three men in Falmouth. He married Margery Lawrey Trelevan and they had nine children:
Thomas Halls 1828-1866 married Elizabeth Jane Studden – six children, five daughters and a son the Rev Thomas Studden Lanyon who married Ann Glencross and emigrated to Australia – one daughter.
Jacob Halls 1833-1913 married Hephzibah Basham – ten children
Elizabeth Ellen 1833-1833 died in infancy
Jane 1835-1907 spinster
Mary 1836-1882 married Edmund Handcock – five children
John 1839-1900 was a currier’s shopman, he emigrated to Canada and died of pneumonia in 1900, he never married.
William 1839-1841 died in infancy
William 1841-1865 died young
Elizabeth Ellen 1842-1921 married Ralph Davenport Waller in 1898, no children
Thomas died suddenly of apoplexy in 1855.
Death Certificate of Thomas Lanyon
George Lanyon 1805-1851
George was born in 1805 and worked as a master saddler and ironmonger. He lived in Church Street in Helston and married Caroline Penberthy in 1841. They had three sons and seven daughters.
Georgiana 1842-1844 died in infancy
George William 1842-1909 married Mary Symons Woolcock – three children
Caroline Mary 1844-1913 spinster
Emily 1845-1923 spinster
Alfred 1846-1846 died in infancy
James Penberthy 1847-1887 worked as a cashier in Brazil and married Mary Treloar whose father worked at the Don Pedro North Del Ray Mines in Brazil, they emigrated to Australia – four children
Selina 1848-1850 died in infancy
Ada 1849-1850 died in infancy
Mary 1850-1939 married Charles Comber Hoadley – four children
Laura 1851-1932 spinster
The last child, Laura was born after her father’s death in April 1851, aged just 46. He had been suffering with Rheumatic fever for six weeks and died of heart failure.
Joseph James Lanyon 1817-1887
Joseph James was born in 1817 and was a currier and ironmonger in Madron. His first marriage was to Elizabeth Cunnack who died in 1854, his second wife was Anne Nicholas who died in 1880. George didn’t hang around and aged 65 he married his third wife, Mary Jane Rowe in 1881. He had three surviving daughters from his first marriage: Elizabeth, Hannah and Caroline. Joseph died in 1887.
Alfred Lanyon 1819-1842
John and Grace’s youngest son Alfred was born in 1819 and died at the age of 24. His death certificate states that he died of ‘decline’, this usually meant TB. He was a druggist and lived with his brother George in Helston. He never married.
Will of Alfred Lanyon CRO/AP/L/2424
John and Grace’s second son and eventual heir was John Charles Lanyon. He moved from Helston to Redruth an opened an ironmongers on Fore Street. In 1840 by mutual consent ‘JC Lanyon & Thomas Lanyon Ironmongers, Curriers & Saddlers’ in Helston was dissolved and John Charles concentrated on his business interests in Redruth. See more about him in the post – ‘John Charles Lanyon 1800-1868’.
Jacob Halls Lanyon 1833-1913
Jacob was the second son of Thomas Lanyon and Margery Trelevan. he emigrated to Victoria, Australia and married Hephzibah Basham in 1862. They had ten children:
Ada Rebecca 1863-1935
Mary Helen 1864-1952
Florence Jane 1867-1957
Harold Trelevan 1868-1938
Kate Trelevan 1870-1954
Arthur Martin 1872-1952
Amy 1873-1957
Jessie May 1876-1916
Athelstane Edward 1878-1965
Raymond Rivers 1881-1946
Ada Rebecca Lanyon and her husband Alfred Collis Morton
Eliza Lanyon died at St Austell on 18 May 1880 aged 82. A Miss Jewell wrote to Eliza’s niece, Mrs Annie Eliza Butts (nee Lanyon) (Little Sioux, Iowa) in July 1880.
“You will have received my letter informing you of your aunt’s death. I have now to say that I gave your address to the Executor, Mr. Rowse of St Austell so that he may write to you when he wants to do so…..”. It soon becomes apparent that Mr Rowse is a bit of a scoundrel!
Some eighteen months later WT Sanders writes to Mrs Butts: “As you are no doubt aware the distribution of the estate according to the terms of the will was left entirely in the hands of Mr Rowse. Mrs Sanders has written to him on the subject of her legacy but he has not made any reply. In October last I was at St Austell and saw him about it….he pleaded pressure of business ….and that he had been waiting for an account from the auctioneer which he had that very day received, therefore was in a position to draw a cheque and settle the affairs….nothing further has been heard from him. Taking this conduct into consideration and the time which has elapsed since Miss Lanyon’s death it has been thought desirable that you as the residuary legatee should at once take some steps…to enforce the administration of the estate and with this object in view should instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf.”
WT Sanders recommends the solicitor, Mr Harrison. In Feb 1882 Mr Harrison writes to Mrs Butts informing her that he has written to Mr Rowse and it transpires that Eliza Lanyon’s will has not even been proved. Mr Harrison writes to Anne’s brother Thomas James Lanyon in 1884.
“Mr Rowse has again and again promised to prove the will and wind up the estate…..The probate court ordered on our application some months since that if he did not prove the will he would be liable to be arrested. This order is still in force and a copy of it has been served on Mr Rowse but he has not proceeded to wind up the estate, not withstanding that we have endeavoured by personal interviews and otherwise to induce him to do so.”
Later they write again to Thomas: “….we regret to say that Mr Rowse has failed to fulfil his promises and there is we think no alternative but to take proceedings to have Miss Lanyon’s estate administered in the Chancery Division of the High Court. This we endeavoured to avoid as the costs ….are heavy. The £300 we obtained from Mr Rowse is on account bearing interest at 3%.”
They write again on Dec 31st 1885 “We have not been able to obtain a further sum from Mr Rowse…..we fear it will be necessary to take further proceedings against Mr Rowse to enforce a settlement. He now alleges as the reason for not closing the estate , that he has been unable to obtain payment of a mortgage debt, and it may be necessary to sell the property included in the security. Please say if you desire us to proceed in the Supreme Court to obtain administration of the estate.”
August 1886 and Frankfort Chambers in Plymouth send a telegram to Thomas Lanyon: “We very much regret to inform you that Mr Harrison …is at home ill and we fear it may be some weeks before he will be able to attend to business.”
The saga continues with Mr Rowse employing various delaying tactics. In March 1887 Thomas Rowse writes: “I have been pressing for settlement of the mortgage debt and have had two letters from the parties….saying that Mr Williams was undecided and that they were endeavouring to get the money from some friends and they beg for a little further indulgence.”!
At this point a Jason. H. Morris gets involved and writes to Thomas in July 1889 (over nine years after Eliza’s death!)
“Friend Thomas. I have had an interview with Mr Harrison, your solicitor here…he has not done his best for the interest of the estate, I am sure, and I drove that admission from him that he withheld from the heirs more than legal fees. I can see that he is disposed to treat me very ‘gingerly’ and I think I am going to be able to work quite harmoniously with him from this time on. I go to St Austell next week and….then go straight at Mr Rowse for blood. …..My only fear is that he has been using your aunt’s money and now cannot pay for it. In that case all that can be done is to clean out what he has and lock him up for the balance.”
Jason Morris writes again that month: “My arrival here was exceedingly inopportune, as Mr Rowse went to the north of England the Saturday before my arrival…..he returned with a new wife….and I jumped him red hot a half hour later. He was very affable but he is as dishonest as his hide will hold. He promises now to give me a detailed statement of account by one week from today, and I know he does not intend to settle with me then. I feel very sure I shall have to pull him up to London before I get any satisfaction from him….The annuity- Miss Selina will not sell or compromise it…about £173 will buy a government annuity and if she dies next week the government will keep the £173. The only way I can see it is for you to buy U.S Bonds enough to have the coupons pay $50 and deposit them in a bank here until she ceases to call for her interest and then pull down your bonds. She is 45 years old, tough as thunder, likely to live till 90 and so up along.”
Jason Morris writes to Thomas again in August 1889. “Friend Lanyon….you say right when you say “put him through” and “lock him up if he don’t pay” etc. I should have done it without your order for he is the most cheeky dishonest chap I ever met…..I took the trail he came off from with his new wife and followed it up to Lichfield Staffordshire on a hunt for his money as I was sure he had money and equally certain he had sequestered it good and hard. I have found £400…tucked away. The annuity – I have studied that a good bit….and conclude the best thing to do is leave that on Rowse. True he may never pay it but when we have got all we can we shall have less than belongs to us and I have little sympathy for Selina. She is strong as a mule and twice as stubborn, wouldn’t compromise a penny in any way and Miss Jewell told me she listened at your aunt’s door when the will was being made, knew all its provisions perfectly and then never ceased teasing and hounding your aunt to make the codicil until it was done. I think I can prove Rowse indebted over £700 now and I hope to make it greater before I sue him. I feel pretty sure of catching him for something more I know he has got it the only question being whether I can find it but my reputation and pride are at stake and you folks can afford to be as patient. As I can for I feel certain of making you all admit some day that you sent the right man.”
That is the last letter and we are left wondering if the intractable case was ever resolved.
Last Will and Testament of Eliza Lanyon of St Austell 17th Feb 1880
I give and bequeath to:
Sophia Lanyon widow of my late brother Thomas Lanyon the sum of £100
Frederick Mitchell son of Frederick Mitchell of Gwennap £100
Annie Eliza Butts, the daughter of my late said brother Thomas Lanyon, £50
Nanny Mitchell the widow of William Mitchell £50
Sarah Sanders wife of Samuel Sanders of Saltash £5 to buy a mourning ring
Hannah Geach of Saltash, spinster, £5 to buy a mourning ring
Thomas Rowse, £50
Wesleyan Theological Training College at Richmond £50
Wesleyan Foreign Missionary Society £50
St Austell Wesleyan Sunday School £10
Town Missionary Society £10
British and Foreign Bible Society £10
Wesleyan Worn Out Ministers and Minster’s Widows fund £30
Children’s Home in London connected to Wesleyan Society £30
Mrs Henry Andrew of St Austell £2 to buy a mourning ring
Ellen Kate, Laura and Julia Andrew daughters of Mrs Henry Andrews 20 shillings each
Anna Maria Bice, daughter of Malachi Bice of St Austell 20 shillings
The eldest sons of Henry Andrew of Sherborne 20 shillings each
Thomas Rowse £19 19 shillings to be distributed to the poor connected with the Wesleyan Society
Edward Geach of Trethurgey £5
Clara and ? daughters of Walker Hicks of St Austell 50 shillings each
Selina Whetter if living with me at the time of my death…?
Sarah Sanders – portrait of Charles Geach, silver sugar tongs and large sofa rug, my crimson and white antimacasser, drawing room scrap book, album and photographs
Suitable mourning clothing for my servant Selina Whetter
Selina Whetter the bed she normally sleeps on and bed linen and all my undergarments. But in case she shall during any illness from which I may suffer or at any time previous to my death be guilty of unkindness or any other misconduct which in the opinion of the executor renders her unworthy of the bequests to her by this will then such bequests shall be null and void (Eliza evidently has a good measure of Selina!)
All the rest and remainder of my clothing I give to Mrs Joseph James Lanyon of Penzance and Jane Lanyon of Falmouth
Caroline Hancock daughter of Joseph James Lanyon half a dozen silver tea spoons, my gold watch and chain from my Spanish Figures under the large glass shade
Bessie Butterworth daughter of JJ Lanyon half a dozen silver dessert spoons
Jane Lanyon of Falmouth half a dozen tea spoons, a fire screen,
Ellen Lanyon of Falmouth half a dozen ? and my worked wool chair
All the rest and remainder of my silver forks I give unto my first cousin Joseph James Lanyon of Penzance and plated cake basket
Ella Ann wife of John Lovering of St Austell?
Thomas Rowse the Spanish Figures under the two small glass shades and a pair of small globes
Elizabeth Lovering of Fore St St Austell my electro plated coffee pot
Mrs Fred Stephen of Hombal in St Mewan the portaits of my uncle and aunt and also a figure which is on the chiffonier.
Jane Lanyon and Thomas Rowse all my books
Hannah Geach the specimens under the glass shade on the mantelpiece and the thermometer under glass
I give to Jane Lanyon and her sister Ellen my dessert set between them.
Jane Lanyon and Mrs Joseph Lanyon all my ornaments on mantelpieces and chiffionier except those I have before given
My neighbour Mrs John Pearse my small cotton crochet antimacasser with leaves
All the rest and residue and remainder of my real estate and personal estate not otherwise disposed of unto and amongst the children of my late brother Thomas now in America
What a detailed will and it really gives a glimpse into life in Victorian times for a well to do spinster.
The Lanyons 