The more a family grows the less there is to pass on. Thomas Lanyon may have been a gentleman farmer in St Buryan but his great grandsons and their children are much poorer.

The names Thomas and Richard are popular and it can be difficult to pinpoint the correct one in the records. This is my attempt to sort out this branch of the St Buryan tree.

Thomas Lanyon 1722-1781

Thomas was the son of Thomas and Mary Rowe. He was baptised at Sancreed in 1722 and married Avis harry at Madron in 1754. They had two daughters:

• Ruth 1760-1823 she had an illegitimate daughter, Sabina baptised at Sancreed in 1781. Ruth married Richard Lavars at Sancreed in 1786 no trace of any children. Sabina married William Olds, a husbandman in 1812 and they had five children. Sabina died in 1831 at St Buryan.
• Grace 1763-1786 Grace didn’t marry and died as a pauper at Sancreed in 1786.

Avis died in 1766 and a Thomas Lanyon married Honour Bottrel at Sancreed in 1772. It may not be this Thomas but I can’t fit this marriage in anywhere else! Thomas and Honour had four children:

• Ann 1773- possible marriage to John Bawden at Madron in 1798?
• Thomas 1775- no further trace
• Honour 1779-1842 married John Hosken in 1818 at Sancreed and died at St Just in 1842
• William 1779- William was baptised on the same day as his sister Honour so she was probably born a couple of years before him. No further trace of William

Richard Lanyon 1732-

Richard was the youngest son of Thomas Lanyon and Mary Rowe. He was baptised in 1732 at Sancreed and married Margery Riccault at Madron in 1757. They had four children:

• Richard 1758-1842 married Jane Thomas at Madron in 1779, they had one son Jacob Thomas Lanyon baptised in 1780, no further trace of Jacob
• Thomas 1760- no further trace
• William 1763-1836 married Mary Webb at St Buryan in 1787 – three children
• Margery 1764- illegitimate son William baptised in 1791

There are two possible dates of burial for Richard 23rd Sep 1766 at St Buryan or 16th Dec 1767 at Sancreed. Either way he died in his early thirties and Margery died in 1770 so all four children must have been raised by relatives.

Thomas Lanyon 1736-1791

Thomas was the second son of John Lanyon and Ann Hicks, he was baptised at St Just in Penwith in 1736. In 1766 he was married to Jane Ann Bennetts. They had nine children:

• Thomas 1767-1829 married Cordelia Bennetts – nine children
• John 1769-1791 bachelor died young
• Hugh 1770-1791 bachelor died young
• Jane 1774-1827 married John Thomas – twelve children
• Ann 1774-1827 spinster
• Grace 1779-1863 married Richard Oats, a tin dresser, one son traced
• Margaret 1781-1851 married John Hallo, a tin miner, in 1806 – eight children
• James 1783-1822 yeoman, never married and died age 39, bequeaths everything to his sister Grace Oats (Source – CRO/AP/L/2243)
• William 1788-1841 married Honor Davy at St Just in 1812 – twelve children

William Lanyon 1742-1807

William was the youngest son of John Lanyon and Ann Hicks, he was a tinner. In his father’s will he was left £20 and one half of Martin Edwards stamps on tenement of Trewellard. In 1763 he married Sarah Rowe at St Just in Penwith and they had three children:

• William 1767-1836 married Elizabeth Trembath
• Sarah 1775-1856 baptised at St Ives, married William Jennings – eight children
• Ann Row 1780-1864 baptised at St Ives married George Bryant in 1800 – eight children

Sarah Rowe died in 1786 and the following year widower William married Jane Colliver at St Ives. They had five children:

• John 1788-1791 died in infancy
• Jane 1790-1795 died in infancy
• John 1792- no further trace
• Mary 1794-1801 died young
• Jane 1796-1799 died in infancy

As far as can be ascertained none of the children from his second family survived to adulthood. In 1805 his brother John left him 1/- in his will. William of St Ives drowned at Newquay in 1807 and was buried at St Columb Major. Jane Colliver lived to the age of 86.

Richard Lanyon 1739-

Richard was the eldest surviving son of Richard Lanyon and Grace Phillips. He was baptised at St Buryan in 1739. He married Mary Gomer at Paul in 1766. They had seven children:

• Richard 1766-1766 died in infancy
• Richard Lanyon 1767-1767 died in infancy
• David 1768-1846 married Elizabeth Carter – two children
• Mary 1771-1771 died in infancy
• Richard 1773- was a farmer, he married Anne Chapple at Paul in 1809 no children
• Mary 1776 married Richard Crocker no children traced
• John 1779-1831 married Grace Lanyon his cousin – four children

Charles Lanyon 1740-1822

Charles was the youngest son of Richard Lanyon and Grace Phillips. He married Martha Ellis at St Buryan in 1765 and they had nine children:

• Charles 1765- no further trace
• Sarah 1769- married Thomas Roberts at St Buryan 1795 – no children traced
• Richard 1774-1802 he was a mariner and died on HMS Excellent in Asia
• Martha 1778-1859 married Robert Gibbs in 1824, a carpenter and widower – no children
• David 1780-1788 died young
• Grace – 1782 died in infancy
• Grace 1784-1810 married her cousin John Lanyon the son of Richard and Grace Phillips
• David 1788- no further trace
• James 1795-1858 married Grace Harvey at St Buryan in 1822 – no children

Thomas Lanyon and Elizabeth Jonnes of St Buryan had eight children, of them only two sons had children that we can trace, Richard and David. This post is about their sons.

Richard Lanyon & Margery Baynard’s Son

Thomas Lanyon 1695-1738

Thomas was the youngest son of Richard and Margery Baynard and the only son to survive to adulthood.

He married Mary Rowe at Sancreed in 1716. They had eight children:

• Mary 1717- no further trace
• Grace 1719-1719 died in infancy
• Jane 1720-1722 died in infancy
• Thomas 1722-1781 married Avis Harry & Honor Bottrell – six children
• William 1725- no trace
• Ruth 1729-1798 married William Hitchens/Hutchens – five children
• Richard 1732- married Margery Riccault – four children
• Margery 1736-1767 married John Nicholas, husbandman.

There are two possible burials for Thomas one on the 14th Aug 1737 at St Just and the other 11 Feb 1738 at Paul, either is possible!

David Lanyon & Margaret Shetford’s Sons

John Lanyon 1696-1768

John was the eldest son of David Lanyon and Margaret Shetford. He was baptised at Sancreed in 1696. In 1730 he married Ann Hicks at St Just in Penwith.

They lived at Boscaswell at St Just in Penwith and he was a yeoman of the tenement of Trewellard.

John and Ann had seven children:

• Ann 1731-1806 married William Peak – three children
• John 1733-1805 married Phyllis Warren, no children traced. His will however mentions his various siblings. Source – CRO/AP/L/2067

• My sister Ann Peak £10
• My brother William 1/-
• My sister Margery Williams £2. 12/- 6d
• My sister Jane Lanyon 1/-
• My brother-in-law Edward James 1/-
• James Lanyon the son of Thomas and Jane £10
• Everything else goes to his ‘well beloved wife Phyllis’

It’s great to find a will like this that names siblings and helps confirm if a person is still alive and who they married.

• Thomas 1736-1791 married Jane Ann Bennetts – nine children
• Elizabeth 1739-1822 married John Michell – no children traced (not mentioned in John’s will)
• William 1742-1807 married Sarah Rowe & Jane Colliver – eight children
• Margery abt. 1743-1809 married Henry Williams – no children
• Mary 1745-1747 died in infancy

Richard Lanyon 1702-1766

Richard was the youngest son of David and Margaret. He married Grace Phillips at St Buryan in 1728. They had four children:

• David 1729-1730 died in infancy
• Grace 1739- no further trace
• Richard 1739- married Mary Gomer – seven children
• Charles 1740-1822 married Martha Ellis – nine children

We don’t know what Richard’s occupation was or if he left a will but when we see what happens to the next generation we can see the effects of wealth watered down over time. Thomas Lanyon may have been a gentleman farmer but his descendants were not so fortunate.

Thomas was the eldest son of David Lanyon and Joan Shutford, he was born about 1620 but there is no record of his baptism. His father died in 1641 and his will suggests that Thomas is 21.

His father David bequeathed Thomas land that can be traced back to Richard Lanyon Esq and Margaret Treskillard.

Thomas was a gentleman and yeoman. He married Elizabeth Jonnes at St Buryan in 1658. They had eight children:

• John 1659-1663 died in infancy
• Richard 1661-1720 married Margery Baynard – four children
• John 1663-1702 died unmarried but left a will which mentions his siblings: Richard, David, Thomas, Grace, Alice and Joan wife of Edmund Eva, Uncle Barnard and mother Elizabeth.

• David 1665-1744 married Margaret Shetford – five children
• Joane 1667-1745 married Edmund Eva – four children
• Grace 1669-aft. 1703 – no further trace
• Thomas 1672 – married Mary Edwards – four children
• Alice 1675-1705 married Richard Olivie – one son who lived for a day, Alice was buried eight days later so probably died of puerperal fever.

Thomas died in 1695 his estate was valued at £113 5/- and he left a will which mentions:

• Son Richard Lanyon of Sancret 2/- 6d and his daughter Grace 5/-
• Third son David
• Eldest son Thomas
• Daughter Jane £40
• Daughter Alice
• Brother Barnard, large chest , woolen clothes
• wife Elizabeth and son John executors
• His son David and daughters were to have meat and drink and lodging at my house at Bolanken

The church wardens account at St Buryan lists the following properties connected to the Lanyons:

• Treviddron – held by Mr Charles Lanyon between 1690-1700 and up to 1711. Charles left the Parish in 1711 and the property passed to Mr Henry Davies.
• Bolanken – In 1693 in the possession of Thomas lanyon, by 1699 it was in the possession of William Lanyon and remained there until 1703 when possession was transferred to Paynter.
• Treve – In possession of John Lanyon in 1699 and is again mentioned in 1702. By 1703 it was in Thomas Lanyon’s possession and it remained there until 1711.
• Cardinney – In 1734 David lanyon held Cardinney as far back as 1711 it was listed as belonging to Robert Shutford and David Lanyon jointly.
• The rector comments that the social status of these Lanyons in the parish in the 17th and 18th centuries was that of gentlemen and non-working farm owners.

Richard Lanyon 1661-1720

Richard was the eldest surviving son of Thomas and Elizabeth Jonnes, he was baptised at St Buryan in 1661. He married Margery Baynard at Sancreed in 1688. They had four children:

• Richard 1686-1687 died in infancy
• Thomas 1690-1693 died in infancy
• Grace 1693-1777 married William Mason of St Just in 1715 and they had five children
• Thomas 1695-1737 or 1738 married Mary Rowe – eight children

Richard died in 1720 and left a detailed will:

Partial transcript:

• Parish of St Burian 5/-
• Wife Margery £5 and bedroom furniture in hall chamber in Trovean and other furniture, brass pots and pewter marked with the letters MB belonging to her before marriage
• Son-in-law William Mason, St Just
• To daughter Grace, wife of William Mason, hanging press in Trevean (sic)
• To granddaughters Mary and Grace the daughters of Thomas Lanyon £5
• To granddaughters Mary and Joan Mason
• All the rest to son Thomas

David Lanyon 1665-1744

David was mentioned specifically in his father Thomas’ will of 1696 ‘to have meat and drink and lodging in my house at Bosanken’. It seems strange to put that in a will and not mention his other brothers. David married Margaret Shetford at Sancreed in 1695, had there been a family falling out? Did they expect David to need board and lodging?

David was a yeoman of Cardinney, St Buryan. According to the church warden’s accounts David owned this house jointly with Robert Shetford, Margaret’s father.

David and Margaret had five children:

• John 1696-1751 married Ann Hicks – seven children
• Elizabeth 1697-1779 married William Hutchens – four children
• Robert 1699-1700 died in infancy
• Mary 1701- married John Vingoe – three children
• Richard 1702-1766 married Grace Phillips – four children

Thomas Lanyon 1672-

Thomas was the youngest son of Thomas and Elizabeth yet his father’s will calls him the eldest! He lived at the Tenement of Kerrow and was called a gentleman. He married Mary Edwards at St Buryan in 1703. They had four children:

• Isabella 1703- possible marriage in 1738 at Madron to Thomas Teague?
• Francis 1704-1705 died in infancy
• Jane 1706- married John Inch at St Buryan in 1728 no further trace
• Francis 1708- no further trace

We’ll follow this family in the post ‘Thomas Lanyon’s Grandsons’.

George Peter Lanyon was born in St Ives in 1918, the son of William Herbert Lanyon and Lilian Priscilla Vivian. He was a leading figure in the St Ives group of artists and is best known for his abstract landscapes of Cornwall. He died at Taunton in Somerset following a gliding accident at the age of 46.

He studied at the Penzance School of Art and in 1939 he met Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth and was tutored by Nicholson. He married Sheila Margaret St John Brown in 1946. They had six children some of whom also became artists.

‘When Lanyon returned to St Ives after active service in the second world war, he fell out with most of the other artists. As the only native Cornishman among them, he saw them as incomers who did not share his interest in getting under the skin of the landscape – which he attempted literally, scrambling down mine shafts as well as soaring above them. 

The rift became so bitter that, according to local legend, every time he passed Nicholson’s house on the coastal path, he urinated on the gable wall – hoping that the house would eventually fall down.’ Source -The Guardian 17th Aug 2015)

He taught at the Bath Academy of Art and held his first exhibition in London in 1949. In 1959 he began training as a glider pilot  “to get a more complete knowledge of the landscape” and this became the basis for his art.

He was buried at Lelant in Cornwall and his headstone bears the inscription:

I will ride now
The barren kingdoms
In my history
And in my eye

The poet W S Graham wrote a poem about Peter, The Thermal Stair.

The chapel is a 13th or 14th century building over an ancient Celtic site. The well is a ground level natural spring said to have healing properties.

The well is about 200 metres from the chapel and the trees are often hung with strips of cloth or ‘clouties’ as offerings to appease the spirits.

An old May Day tradition, which was still being observed in 1879, was for many young folks to head from Penzance before sunrise, to perform a ceremony, to learn the number of years they would have to wait before they got married. (Source – The Cornishman. No. 43. 8 May 1879. p. 4)

The Rev R.S Hawker even penned a poem about the well.

"PLUNGE thy right hand in St. Madron's Spring,
If true to it's troth be the palm you bring;
But if a false sigil thy fingers bear,
Lay them the rather on the burning share"

Loud laughed King Arthur when as he heard
That solemn friar his boding word;
And blithely he swore, as a king he may,
"We tryst for St. Madron's at the break of day."

How many Lanyons walked over the fields to visit the holy well near their manor house?