The final branch of the Botrea tree are the sons of Thomas Lanyon 1661-1738.
Thomas was just 3 years old when his father died in 1664. Of the eight children he had only William and John survived to produce their own families and carry on the family name.
John (1711-1767) married Sarah Straight and moved to St Allen in Cornwall and founded a whole new and very successful branch of the family. (See St Allen Branch). William (1705-1791) married Margaret Richards and despite living to the grand old age of 86 only had one surviving son.
William Lanyon 1739-1827
William was born at Paul, he married Mary Pooley at Ludgvan (near Marazion) Cornwall in 1776.
Their children:
- William 1777-1834
- John 1782-1847
- James 1784-1853
- Mary 1787-1862 married John Strick at Ludgvan in 1810
- Richard 1789-1853
- Ann 1791-1860 married Christopher Trathan, a labourer, at Gulval in 1814, one son, William Lanyon Trathan b 1817
- Margaret 1793-1875 spinster
William Lanyon 1777-1834
William Lanyon’s first child was illegitimate and born to Susan Dinneshorn when he was 19. William Lanyon senior and junior were charged a £30 bastardy bond by church wardens and the parish poor law overseer for Susan’s base child. The son, George, was born in 1796 and married Ann Edmonds at Ludgvan in 1827. He died in 1829 and left a will, George Lanyon yeoman of Ludgvan – 2 guineas to my father and all the rest of my goods to my wife Ann sole executrix. There were no children of this marriage but Ann Edmonds had a daughter Grace Jennings born in 1836.
William married Mary Martin in 1803 and he had a further nine children:
- Juliana 1804-1877 married Matthew Trewhella 1827 – six children, emigrated to Connecticut, USA.
- Margaret 1806-1887 married Jasper Allen 1834 – ten children, emigrated to Connecticut.
- Mary 1806- married Richard Edmonds 1825, three children
- Jane 1806-1815 died young
- William Argell Perrow Lanyon 1808-1884 was a farmer, he never married but lived with his illegitimate son, Alfred Lanyon, who was born about 1856. No further trace of Alfred.
- Joseph Martin Lanyon 1811-1870
- Henry Lanyon 1814-1871
- Jane 1815-1837 died at Rospeath (family home) age 21
- James 1822-1885
Of those nine children only four sons had children of their own who carried on the Lanyon name, William, Joseph, Henry and James.
Joseph, Henry and James all emigrated to Connecticut, USA.
The Great Emigration
Between 1815 and 1915 many thousands of people emigrated from Cornwall to seek a better life. They headed to countries like the USA, Australia and South Africa. They were ‘economic migrants’. When tin mining was no longer profitable and mines closed many Cornish men moved to mining areas all over the world. As a result of the Great Emigration, there are now more than six million people of Cornish descent around the world, some of them are called Lanyon!
Three of William’s sons emigrated to Connecticut, USA.
Joseph Martin Lanyon 1811-1870
Joseph married Mary Thomas Harry in 1835 at Ludgvan and by 1844 they had emigrated to Connecticut, USA. Joseph was a miner. Their children
- Joseph Martin 1837-1837 died in infancy
- Mary 1838-1900 married James A Crase in 1857 at Connecticut and moved to California. Five children.
- Louisa 1840-1876 married Llewellyn Michell who died in 1874. Five children who all died in infancy.
- Jane 1843- married Henry Rowe at Connecticut. One child.
- Bethulia 1847-1931 married Josiah Champion in 1865. Three children.
- Joseph H Lanyon 1851-1900. Married Caroline Harris. Six children.
- William T Lanyon 1854-1908 a stonemason, married Alice Sophia Leavenworth. Three children.
And there we must leave Joseph Martin Lanyon’s family. His brother Henry also emigrated to Connecticut.
Henry Lanyon 1814-1871
Henry was born at Ludgvan, married Elizabeth Sarah Wills at Bath in Somerset in 1840. He died at Connecticut in 1871.
- Mary Jane 1841-1913 born in Gloucestershire, England – spinster who died in Canada.
- Emily Millicent 1843-1927 also born in Gloucestershire. Three marriages: Nathaniel Williams – one daughter; William Taylor – eight children; John Catron – two children. She died in Pennsylvannia in 1927.
- James M 1845-1903 a butcher, born in Connecticut married Emma Bristol – 2 sons Wilbur & James.
- William Wills 1847-1905 married Sarah Bronson Thrall – four children. William died in Los Angeles.
- Joseph M Lanyon 1849-1850 died in infancy
- Arabella 1852-1933 spinster died in California
- Julia 1854- no trace
- Elizabeth 1856- no trace
- Susan Gertrude 1858-1923 married in 1876 to Herbert Rudy Hawley – three children. Susan died in New Jersey.
- Henry John 1866- no trace
James Lanyon 1822-1885
James was the third son of William Lanyon and Mary Martin. He was also born at Ludgvan in Cornwall and emigrated in the 1840s to Connecticut. There he married Lucretia Brooks in 1843. They had three children.
- William J 1844-1844 died in infancy
- Mary 1846-1846 died in infancy
- Wesley 1848-1928 married Eleanora Harriett Allen in 1848 and they had three children.
That’s where we leave William and Mary Martin’s branch of the tree and move to his brother John Lanyon.
John Lanyon 1782-1847
John was a farmer and miller, he lived at Tregarthen at Ludgvan. In 1815 he married Ann Hosken. They had four children.
- Henry 1817-1834 died young no children
- Mary Ann 1819-1888 she was a spinster and died at Mithian in 1888
- John 1821-1864
- Richard 1824-1874
John Lanyon 1821-1864
John was also a farmer at Tregarthen, he married Mary Reed at Ludgvan in 1852. He died when he was just 42.
- William John 1853-1857 died in infancy
- Thomas James 1855-1941 no trace of a marriage or children, he died in Alabama
- Elizabeth Margaret 1857-1885 died unmarried
- William John 1860-1867 died in infancy
- Eliza Jane Reed 1863 1920 married Samuel A Bice, no children. Died in Alabama
Without any surviving children this branch died out.
Richard Lanyon 1824-1874
Richard was a farmer in 1854 he married Anne (Nanny) James. They had seven children but only one child ever married.
- James 1855-1932 never married and lived with his unmarried siblings. He died age 77 at New Farm in Crowan.
- Emily 1856-1916 spinster lived with unmarried siblings
- Anne 1862-1870 died young
- Jane 1864-1937 married John James Liddicoat – one child.
- Richard 1865-1932 never married and lived with unmarried siblings
- John 1867-1951 he was a farmer, he never married but was living with Maude Lanyon, a widow, in 1939.
- Emma 1870-1930 spinster lived with unmarried siblings
With so many unmarried children it’s not surprising that this male line died out!
Richard Lanyon 1789-1853
We go back to William and Mary Pooley’s children. Richard was a farmer at Rospeath, Ludgvan. At Zennor, in 1826, he married Elizabeth Stevens and had eight children.
- Elizabeth (Betsy) Stevens 1827- married Thomas Richards no further trace
- John 1829-1829 died in infancy
- John 1831-1902
- Mary 1833-1833 died in infancy
- Mary 1835- married William Bennetts – eleven children
- James 1837-1837 died in infancy
- James 1839-1912
- Margaret 1841-1842 died in infancy
Richard died in 1853 and his will specifically excluded his son in law Thomas Richards. “Thomas Richards shall not receive any benefit from my daughter Elizabeth Richard’s part”.
Of Richard and Elizabeth’s eight children only two sons had children of their own, John and James.
John Lanyon 1831-1902
John was a farmer at Rospeath, Ludgvan and his ‘claim to fame’ is that he had two wives, both called Jane!
- Jane Matthews – married Jan 1857. Jane died nine months later in Sep 1857 so it is possible she died in childbirth with their first child.
- Jane T Chellew was his second wife. He married her in Jan 1858. They had five children and four of them died in infancy. Only John 1860-1933 survived. Jane died in 1869, leaving a nine year old son.
John Lanyon 1860-1933
John was baptised at Ludgvan 29 Dec 1861, the only surviving son of John Lanyon and Jane Chellew. He was a farmer at Rospeath, Ludgvan. He married Priscilla Trembath in 1883. They had six children.
- William John 1881-1949 married Ada Mary Tilly – no children.
- Richard Henry 1886-1940 married Honor Jeffrey – four children
- Robert Henry 1886-aft. 1911 farm labourer no further trace
- Mary Annie 1888-aft. 1911 no further trace
- Bessie 1894-1921 bessie died at Bodmin Asylum age 27.
- Priscilla 1898-1987 she married James Leonard Noy in 1931 – no children
We must leave this branch of the family here.
James Lanyon 1839-1912
James was the son of Richard Lanyon and Elizabeth Stevens. He worked as a farmer and a miner. In 1863 he married Mary Carlyon Corin at Ludgvan and they had seven children.
- Grace Jane Corin 1865-1930 married Samuel Semmens – no children
- Mary Elizabeth 1866-1877 died young
- Elizabeth 1866-1949 spinster died at St Erme in 1949
- James 1869-1935 bachelor of Chy Vellan farm at Ludgvan.
- Matilda 1872-1949 married 1901 William Ernest Semmens – one son Ernest Semmens. Matilda married for a second time in 1923 to William A Curtis, at Penzance.
- William John 1876-1951 never married
- Richard 1879- never married
Yet again with so many unmarried children this branch of the tree died out.
In just eight or nine generations this branch of the Lanyon tree has almost died out in Cornwall due to the reluctant grooms. Why did so many of them remain unmarried?
The Lanyons 