Tag: Madron

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Raphe Lanyon’s Tree

Raphe’s tree was the most difficult to draw and it’s fair to say the word ‘hypothetical’ should be liberally sprinkled over most of this post! At best this is my interpretation of the records to hand.

Raphe’s Tree

Raphe was the 6th son of Richard Lanyon and Margaret Treskillard. He was probably born late 1550s or 1560s. On the 7 Nov 1587 he married Margaret Pope at Breage. There is no record of their son William’s baptism. Margaret must have died before 1591, there is no record of her burial but Raphe married for a second time to Jenat at Sancreed in Sep 1591 (name is spelt Lannyne or Lamyne in the parish register). They had three sons all baptised at Madron.

  • Richard 1594-1661
  • Thomas 1596-1678
  • John 1599-

Jenat was buried on 14 Oct 1601 (name spelt Jennett Lavine in Sancreed’s register).

There is no record of a third marriage however Raphe’s will and administration papers mention his widow, Ann, so sometime after 1601 he must have married again.

(There is a marriage between a Raphe Lamin and Ann on 10 May 1606 in Sancreed. This is after Raphe’s death in 1604/5, could this be an undocumented son called Raphe who coincidentally married someone called Ann? Or has the date been mistranscribed as 1606? there is a burial of a Raphe Lanine in Sancreed on 29 Apr 1614, could this be the same Raphe who married Ann in 1606?)

Raphe’s fifth son Symon was baptised in Madron on 24 Jan 1603/4 and buried on 18 Sep 1605.

We have very little information about Raphe Lanyon. In 1598 along with Alexander Penrose he was trustee of Rosecadghill and Nanselverne in Madron for his brother Richard Lanyon’s wife Avice. (Source – MS Rawlinson c.789 (Oxford) Dated 40 Eliz {1598}).

We do have his will and administration papers and whilst difficult to read we learn the following from them.

“I geve and bequeath unto Anne my wife all such lands or monies contained & specified in a paire of Indentures bearinge date the xxij the daye of October in the xxij yeare of the Raigne of or Severeaigne Ladye Elizabeth late Queene of England & made between the said Ralpe Lanyone on the one partye & Walter Lanyon Francis Lanyon & others on the other partye.” So in October 1580 Raphe and his uncle Walter had agreed a pair of Indentures regarding land.

The will goes on to say the “…lands in the said Indenture mencioned shalbe to the benifett of my said Childeren…”

He bequeathes the tenements of Carowe & Bodener to his wife.

“…my said wife shall releive maintaine & finde all my said Childeren sufficient meat drinke & apparell untill they & everye of them doe accomplishe the Age of xxti years unless my said wife can procure them some Arte or science wherin they maye be better able to gett their livinge..”

Raphe bequeathes to William Lanyon “…my eldest sonne whome I geve Bossolowe Vean…” he also makes him his executor.

Raphe Lanyon administration Source- AP/L/28

Bond signed by Hannibal Lavelis of Castle Horneck and John Matthews

The inventory is approved by John & William Lanyon junr, John may be Walter’s son and heir and William junior may be Raphe’s son.

Frustratingly Jane Veale Mitchell (early 20th century researcher) notes that Raphe was a ‘family favourite’ and often mentioned in wills but provides no transcriptions or evidence to back this up. She lists his sons: William, Richard, Thomas, John and Symon but says nothing else about them. The following is my attempt to build a tree.

Map showing Great & Little Bosullow and Bodinar – ‘Lanyon Tea Room’ is the location of Walter Lanyon’s home

William Lanyon aft. 1587-1627

On Jan 21 1605/6 William Lanyon, gent, married Mary Lavelis (Levelis) at Madron. Mary was the sister of Hanniball Lavelis (source Vivian’s – The Visitations of Cornwall : comprising the Heralds’ visitations of 1530, 1573, & 1620). Understanding the Lavelis tree helps compile the Lanyon tree.

The Lavelis family tree

William married Mary Lavelis and his brother Thomas married Mary’s niece also called Mary Lavelis!

William and Mary had at least four children:

  • William – his baptism isn’t recorded but he was living at Bossolowe Vean until his death in 1674.
  • Jane 1609-aft. 1634 she married Thomas Bond in 1634
  • Mary
  • Thomas -aft. 1633 mentioned in grandfather William Levelis’ will of 1633. In 1637 a Thomas Lanyon gent married Mary, possibly his marriage.

William died in 1627 and Mary was still alive in 1633 as she was mentioned in her father William Lavelis’s will. His will also mentions Raphe’s properties of Bossolowe Veor and Bossolowe Vean as Mary’s home. (Bossolowe Veor or Little Bossolowe is the home of Walter Lanyon’s grandson David at the time of his death in 1641.)

William Lavelis bequeathes “…I gyve to my grand daughter Jane Lanyon all my trad stuffe in Bussollowe there now beinge, I gyve to my grand son Thomas Lanyon my saddell and bridell and I gyve my wearing apparel to my grand children in Bossolowe to be divided amongst them…”

He leaves all his oxen to his son Hanniball Lavelis provided that “…Marye Lanyon shall hath them to turne and plough her land until she be married and have an husband…”

We don’t know if Mary remarried but we do know that Jane and Thomas Bond had at least one daughter also called Jane who married Thomas Levelis the son of James Levelis and Joan Archar of Lizard. (Source – 1620 Herald’s Visitation.)

Richard Lanyon 1594-1661

Richard was the first son of Raphe and Jenat. He was baptised at Madron in 1594. he married Elizabeth at Madron in 1617. Sadly most female surnames were not recorded in the Madron register at this time. They had at least three children:

  • Constance 1623- no further trace
  • Richard abt. 1625-1666 there is no record of his baptism, he married Margery in 1656 at Madron – at least two daughters: Elizabeth 1656-(daughter of Richard Lanion the youngest) and Anne 1659- (daughter of Richard Junior).
  • Mary 1628- recorded as Mary daughter of Richard Lamyn, no further trace

The Madron register lists the deaths of three Richard Lanions in the 1660s; 11 Mar 1661/2, 17 Mar 1665/6 and 2 Sep 1666. Which is which? I’ve put the eldest Richard dying first but that may not be correct.

Bodmin probate Registry lists an administration for Richard Lanion of Madron dated 17 Apr 1677 granted to Jane Boddy, wife of John Boddy. Guardian of Mary and Jane , minors, children of the deceased. Did Richard have another two daughters unrecorded in the baptism register after Elizabeth and Anne? Presumably his wife Margery was already deceased or else she would have cared for their daughters. So many questions without answers!

Thomas Lanyon 1596-1678

Thomas was Raphe and Jenat’s second son. He married his sister-in-law’s niece, Mary Lavelis. The Madron register records that Thomas Lanyon, gent, married Mary on 28 Jan 1637. Vivian’s Herald’s Visitation confirms that it was Mary Lavelis.

They had at least five children:

  • Mary 1637-
  • Ralph- 1640-1683 married Patience Coade
  • Thomas 1643- married ? – 4 children – Ursula, Elizabeth, Grace and Hugh, no further trace of them.
  • Constance 1655- married Henry Trenwith

A Thomas Lanyon signs the 1641/2 Protestation Return but it could be this Thomas or Thomas the son of David Lanyon. Thomas was buried at Madron on 30 Dec 1678.

John Lanyon 1599-

John was baptised at Madron in 1599. There are so many John Lanyons in this area at this time that it is difficult to pin any of them down with any real certainty.

In the early 1600s a John Lanyon gent lived at the Manor of Selena in Buryan, it’s possible that it was John son of Raphe Lanyon.

In Jun 1625 a John Lanyon married a Jane at Madron. This John?

In Jan 1641 a John Lanyon married Ann Thomas at Madron. Could it be this John?

A John Lanyon signed the 1641/2 Protestation Return at Madron.

A John Lanyon was baptised at Madron in Apr 1641/2, could this be a son of John and Ann Thomas?

Ralph Lanyon abt. 1640-aft. 1683

Ralph was the son of Thomas and Mary and the grandson of Raphe and Jenat. We don’t have a date of baptism for him but it must have been about 1640. He married Patience Coade at Madron in May 1674 and the register described him as ‘gent’. In 1676 he was mentioned in Litigation along with Thomas and Mary (his brother and sister?).

Ralph is mentioned in his uncle Thomas Lavelis’ will of 1657. He is left a ‘red copper brewing pan and guilded beer bowl.’ A perfect bequest for a teenage boy!

THOMAS LEVELIS, gent, of Penzance

written: 3 Mar 1656/7

proved: 12 Sep 1657

poor of Madron  10 L

poor of Penzance  10 L

poor who come to my burial  5 L among them

friends: GEORGE VEALE of Gulval, gent and THOMAS GAME of Penzance,

gent  1 meadow called Madderne Meadow in Madron purchased of

WILLIAM MADDERNE of Penzance, merchant & MARTYN MADDERNE his

son of Penzance, merchant. To hold the sd. meadow to the use

of MARY LANYON, d/o THOMAS LANYON, of Madron, gent for her

natural life and then to the heirs of her body. In default of

issue to the use of RALPH LANYON s/o THOMAS LANYON & then to

his issue. In default of issue, to the use of the right heirs

of me, THOMAS LEVELIS forever.

ANNE w/o MARTIN BOSAVERNE of Penzance  10 L

niece: JOANE COWLING of Penzance  5 L

THOMAS COWLING s/o JOHN COWLING of Madron, gent  my silver guilter

tankard, best suit & cloak, best hat & hatband

RAPH LANYON (same one named above) red copper brewing pan & guilded

beer bowl

FRANCES w/o sd. JOHN COWLING  one gold ring engraved with “your

love my life”

kinsman: DAVID GROSSE  my organ & what belongs to it

TOBYAS GROSSE  my signet

ELIZABETH w/o RICHARD DUKE  my great chest in the chamber over the

 kitchen in RICHARD DUKE’s house

MARY w/o THOMAS LANYON  1 gold ring engraved with “of sufferance

comes ease”

TOBYAS COWLING s/o WILLIAM COWLING of Madron, gent  my white silver

tankard

“STONE”  10 sh.

sister: MARY LANYON of Madron, widow  5 L

KATHERINE COWLING d/o JOHN COWLING  100 L

MARY LANYON d/o THOMAS LANYON  all the rest & executrix

Ralph and Patience had at least five children.

  • Thomas 1674- married Elizabeth Edmunds – 4 daughters all died in infancy
  • Mary 1677- no further trace
  • John 1681- no further trace
  • Patience -1679 died in infancy
  • Elizabeth 1683- married Robert Edmunds – 3 sons

There is no trace of a burial for Ralph but his daughter Elizabeth was baptised in Feb 1682/3 so presumably he was still alive around then.

Sadly there are too many people with the same name in this area to determine what actually happened to them. There are other branches of the Lanyon family marrying, baptising children and being buried at Madron at the same time. If only they had been a little more adventurous with christian names rather than naming most of the boys John, Thomas and William and most of the girls Elizabeth, Mary and Jane!

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The Diminishing Tree

John Lanyon and Mary Ellis had a large family but their descendants quite often left no traceable issue.

The ‘Golden’ Lanyon’s children

Francis Lanyon 1651-1725 had six sons.

  • Francis 1686-1723
  • Thomas 1691-1755
  • William 1693-1756
  • Nicholas 1695-1706 (died young)
  • John 1697-1738 never married
  • Tobias 1702-1778 never married

Only three of them, Francis 1686-1723, Thomas 1691-1755 and William 1693-1756 had sons of their own.

Francis Lanyon 1686 – 1723

Francis & Jane’s tree

Francis married Jane Edwards at Morvah in 1715. They had five children, the fifth was born following the death of Francis in 1723.

  • Jane 1716 – 1716
  • Dorothy 1717-1778 married John Tellum (three children)
  • Francis 1719-1730
  • Jane 1722-1807 – spinster
  • Benoni John 1723-1777 (Benoni means ‘son of my sorrow’)

Benoni was baptised three months after his father’s death. He was an attorney and married Sybella Tremenhere, the daughter of James Tremenhere and Catherine Lanyon, a grand-daughter of John Lanyon and Mary Ellis.

Benoni John had no children.

Thomas 1691-1755

Thomas married Ann (surname unknown) and worked as a pewterer in Bristol (see separate post for his life story.) He had one son, Francis, born 1725 – no further trace of him.

William 1693-1756

William was a yeoman of Madron and married Jane Philips at Zennor in August 1725.

They had four children:

  • William 1725-1790
  • Ralph 1727-
  • Jane 1730
  • Hugh 1732-1769

William 1725-1790

William was baptised at Zennor in February 1725. He married twice, first to Joan Esterbrook in 1751. Joan died before 1758. They had two children:

  • William 1751- aft 1770. William inherited the estate at Boswarthen but there is no further trace of him
  • Mary 1752- ? there is no mention of her in her father’s will so presumably she died young.

William then married for a second time to Elizabeth Murrish (1736-1796) on 2 Aug 1758. They had four children.

William’s tree
  • Elizabeth 1759-1779. She married James Edwards.
  • Hugh 1764- mentioned in his father’s will of 1770 but no further trace
  • Sarah 1767-1767
  • Sarah 1769- she married Thomas Harvey

There are no traceable male heirs of this line.

Hugh Lanyon 1732-1769

Hugh’s tree

Hugh was baptised at Zennor in 1732. In 1762 he married Anne Eady at Sancreed and they had two sons, Hugh and Ralph. Hugh senior was a yeoman which meant he owned some land. Hugh died in 1769 when his youngest son was just two. He died intestate and his wife renounced administering his estate to Martyn Angwin, Richard Harvey and William Lanyon 1725-1770 (her brother-in-law) his principal creditors.

Ann renouncing Hugh’s estate – Source – CRO AP/L/1753

Hugh Lanyon (Junior) 1762-1838

Hugh and Anne’s eldest son was also called Hugh, he was baptised at Sancreed in 1762, three months after his parents marriage. Hugh was an agricultural labourer and he married Alice Ladner at Sancreed in 1805. They had four children:

  • William 1806- no further trace
  • Francis 1808-1865
  • Nancy 1810 – no further trace, she may have died in infancy
  • Nanny 1813- Nanny married James Hodge, an agricultural labourer at St Buryan in 1837 and they had 3 children.

In 1819 Hugh and Alice were imprisoned for six weeks for larceny.

Criminal Register Cornwall 1819

Hugh died in 1838 at the Penzance Union Poorhouse aged 80, the cause of death was debility. Alice died in 1854 at the Union Workhouse Madron age 90.

Francis Lanyon 1808-1865 & Betsy Lanyon 1808-1892

Hugh and Alice’s only surviving son Francis married Elizabeth (Betsy) Leah at Paul in 1834. Francis was a Newlyn fisherman and Elizabeth Leah was featured in a series of photographs and paintings depicting Newlyn fishwives.

Source: The photos are of Betsy Lanyon and Blanche Courtney taken in the Gibson Mount’s Studio in Penzance circa 1885. Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance.

Francis and Elizabeth had three children: Grace, Elizabeth and Francis. Only Francis survived to adulthood.

Francis senior died in 1865 and Elizabeth/Betsy died at Newlyn in 1892 but Betsy Lanyon lives on… she is now a ‘living’ part of history and talks to visitors at the Penlee House Gallery & Museum about life in Newlyn in the 19th century.

Betsy Lanyon appears to have been the model for the old woman in this Walter Langley painting. Penlee House Gallery and Museum, Penzance.

Francis Lanyon 1842-1872

Betsy and Francis’ son Francis was born at Paul in 1842. The 1871 census for Paul in Cornwall shows that he was living with his mother who was a widow and he was described as age 30 and a ‘cripple and has been for 20 years.’

In 1858 at the age of 16 Francis was found guilty of willfully destroying a tree, the property of Rev. Wm. Veale, clerk at Gulval. He was sentenced to 3 weeks hard labour or a fine of approximately 20 shillings which he couldn’t possibly pay. He had no previous convictions but was sentenced to three weeks on the treadmill. (We’ve already noted that he had been a ‘cripple’ since the age of about ten so three weeks on a treadmill was particularly harsh.)

He was described as 5’2″, dark hair, dark eyes and a dark complexion. Unable to read or write. Freckled, thick lips, scar on nose and left wrist, large eyebrows and slightly pock marked. He was already working as a labourer at Penzance. His weight on entering prison was 133lbs and 3 weeks later it has fallen to 129lbs. Bodmin Gaol was tough. (Source AD/1676/4/5).

British Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Treadmill Punishment

Poor Francis died, aged 31, of Scrofulus abscesses (scrofula was TB of the lymph nodes in the neck) and diarrhoea. His mother Betsy lived for another 20 years.

Ralph Lanyon 1767-1842

Ralph was the younger son of Hugh Lanyon and Anne Eady. He worked as an agricultural labourer. His first marriage was to Margaret Pearce in 1796 at Paul. There were two children from this marriage.

  • Mary 1798- 1842 Mary had 3 illegitimate children: Mary Ann 1825, James 1830 and Matilda Bluett 1834-1841. No further trace of the first two children. She died age 46 of TB.
  • Hugh 1801-1846.

Hugh Lanyon 1801-1846

Age 24 Hugh enlisted in the army. He was a Colour Sergeant in the Royal Sappers & Miners. While bound for Vera Cruz in the ship ‘Cambria’ he helped rescue 551 of the passengers and crew of the ‘Kent’ an East India ship which caught fire in the Bay of Biscay in Feb 1825. Connolly, in his ‘History of the Royal Sappers and Miners’ p309, writes of him ‘Sergeant Hugh Lanyon, after Sergeant – Major Forbes’ removal, was appointed to the charge of the detachment at Sandhurst College, and carried on the file details in every way to the satisfaction of the authorities. For many years, as a private and non-commissioned officer, he worked at the College, and his example had the best effect on the successive parties with which he served. As a practical sapper he was one of the ablest and most skilful in the corps, and in the rapidity with which he threw up earth works was unsurpassed. Sir Charles Pasley has done him the honour by noticing the extraordinary labours of the sergeant in his ‘Practical Operations for a Siege’. His willing ness and ability in this respect covered, in great measure, his educational deficiencies. In charge of the detachment he displayed his usual industry and exertion, kept his men in perfect discipline and order… so effectively were all the instructions carried out, that the governor of the college, with the sanction of the Master-General, presented him in November (1837) with a case of drawing instruments bearing an inscription ‘flattering to his zeal and services.’ Shortly afterwards he was promoted to colour-sergeant and served in Canada during the rebellion. Somewhat broken in health he was discharged in 1844 and became a surveyor on the Trent and Mersey Canal, working under James Forbes. He died in 1846 at Lawton in Cheshire. He was a ‘remarkable man with rather more brawn than brain one suspects‘ (P.A Lanyon-Orgill). Connolly recounts a story about him while building a stockade at Mississawra in Canada in 1842; ‘six men complained to him of the heavy task they were subjected to in removing timbers about 15 feet long and 12 inches square….Lanyon made no observation, but shouldered one of the unweildy logs and, to the amazement of the grumblers, carried it to the spot unassisted.’ In 1843 he was in Ireland and was sent to explore a sewer running into the Liffe river which might provide a means of entry into Dublin Castle. ‘He did so and found that a strong iron grating existed in the passage, which would effectually prevent the supposed entrance. In this duty, being much exposed to the influence of noxious vapours, he soon afterwards was seized with fever and jaundice, which shortened his days.’ (Connolly). He never married or had any children.

HUGH LANYON OF TRURO,
in the county of Cornwall.
He died at Lawton on the
15th of June A.D. 1846:
Aged 41 years
He was an Assistant Surveyor to the 
Trent and Mersey Company.
As a record of his Zeal in the
discharge of his duties the
Company have raised this stone.

Headstone at Cheshire
CONNOLLY(1855) Vol2, p337 (Plate 11) ROYAL SAPPERS & MINERS, UNIFORM 1813.jpg
Royal Sappers & Miners
Hugh Lanyon’s discharge papers

Ralph senior married for a second time in 1805 to Alice Chirgwin 1774-1869. There were two children from his second marriage:

  • Ralph 1807-1868
  • Sarah 1810-1867 married Francis Nicholls in 1827 and they had four sons.

Ralph senior died at the Penzance Union Workouse in 1842. He was a pauper and suffering from TB. Alice his wife died at Lelant in 1869, she was still working as a labourer age 64.

The family has come quite a way from the days of the ‘Golden Lanyon’ and his great wealth.

The forbidding looking Penzance Union Workouse
Penzance Union Workhouse at Madron

Ralph Lanyon 1807-1868

Ralph was a tin miner. He married Mary Ann Nicholls 1806-1881. They lived at Newbridge, Sancreed. They had six children:

COL439186_2022-2-Elizabet_Potter
Ralph & Mary’s tree
  • Ralph 1831-1843 died young
  • Elizabeth 1833-1869. Elizabeth was a dressmaker and a charwoman. In 1869 she married William Potter, a widower. She died whilst on honeymoon (of nephritis and congestion of the lungs) at Portsea and William was a widower for a second time!
  • Hugh 1838-1857, Hugh died age 20.
  • James 1839-1862 he was a tin miner like his father and died of TB age 22.
  • Thomas Henry 1840-1896
  • Ralph 1843-1843 died in infancy

Ralph died in 1868 of TB. Tuberculosis was very common at this time and, whilst it could affect anybody, it was particularly rife amongst the poor who lived in cramped conditions.

Thomas Henry Lanyon 1840-1896

Of the six children of Ralph and Mary only Thomas had children of his own. He married Emma Elliott and they had nine children.

Thomas & Emma’s tree
  • Ellen 1857-1889 She married Robert Chirgwin in 1879, they had two children but Ellen died in 1889 and Robert in 1890 leaving their children orphans. They were split up and taken in by separate families.
  • Thomas Henry 1858-1937
  • Elizabeth 1864- she was on the 1871 census but after that there was no further trace
  • John 1866-bef. 1871 died in infancy
  • James 1866-1935 he worked as both a tin miner and a farm labourer, no marriage or children traced
  • Annie 1870-1956 she worked as a dressmaker and never married
  • Jessie 1872-1937 in 1896 she married Robert Molesworth Thomas and they had two daughters
  • Mary Eveline 1880-1962 she married Arthur James Thomas in 1911 and they had a child
  • Laura 1888-1954 in 1906 she married Albert James Pearce and they emigrated to Pennsylvania in the USA.

Thomas Henry was fined for not sending his children to school, he explained that he couldn’t afford shoes for them which shows how poor they were. In 1877 Thomas was imprisoned for debt in Bodmin Gaol. Source: AD 1676/5/2

1879 newspaper cutting-Petty Sessions Nov 1879

Thomas was also seriously injured in a mining accident. Mining was a dangerous occupation but often it was all that was available.

Cornish Telegraph 15 Jan 1878

Cornish Miners – John Charles Burrow (1852—1918), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Out of nine children only one son had children to carry on the family name.

Thomas Henry Lanyon 1858-1937

Thomas was also a tin miner like his father. Later he became a farm labourer. He married Annie Chirgwin in 1890 and they had eight children.

Thomas & Annie’s family
  • Laura 1880-1967
  • Annie Jane 1882-1919
  • Thomas 1885-
  • Elizabeth Ann 1886-1965
  • Ellen 1889-1967
  • William James 1895-1954
  • Caroline 1899-1985
  • Gwendoline 1902-1919

That’s where we must leave this branch of the family. There were grandchildren so this branch of the family has survived.

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Francis Lanyon’s Descendants

Francis Lanyon’s tree

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.

Here ends Francis’ line.

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Alexander Lanyon’s Descendants

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?

Posted on

John Lanyon the son of Walter and Elizabeth

John Lanyon was the son of Walter Lanyon and Elizabeth Nanspyan. He was born in 1552, we know that from a lease signed in 1632 which gives his age as 80.

Walter & Elizabeth’s tree

It seems likely that he was the John Lanyon who married Margaret daughter of Sampson John Richard on 24 Nov 1578 at Madron, Cornwall. The Marriage register was started in 1577 and John’s marriage was one of the first recorded.

We know that John had at least four children which are mentioned in his will of 1634. We know the years his three sons were born as they are also mentioned in the 1632 lease.

  • Ann abt. 1580 – 1662
  • Francis 1582 – 1661
  • Alexander 1584 – 1669
  • David 1586 -1641

John may have had more children. There is a Margareta Lanyon who married the Reverend John Tremearne, Vicar at Paul on 21st May 1598 and she could be his daughter. Sadly she died on 14 Feb 1603 at Paul leaving two sons Henry and Richard.

John and Margaret Lanyon lived at Paul (Penolva Farm) until they inherited barton of Lanyon following Walter’s death in 1605. Jane Veale Mitchell mentions them at the Penolva property but I haven’t yet found documentary evidence to back that up. Perhaps it was mentioned in a will that she saw but which has since been lost.

Another hypothesis is that John and Margaret were the parents of Sampson Lanyon (possibly named after Sampson John Richard) who married Johane Noye on 19 Jul 1602 at Sancreed, Cornwall. Johane was the daughter of Johane Noye who died in 1606 and it is her will which names Sampson Lanyon.

Sampson & Margareta Lanyon possible issue from John & Margaret
JOHANE NOYE of Sancreed, widow

written: 26 Jun 1605
proved: 4 Sep 1606

parish of Sancreed  1 ewe sheep
parish of Maddern  12 d.
for forgotten tithes  1 ewe sheep
son: WILLIAM NOYE  best brass pan of 5 gallons, 2 tin platters, 2 milche
 	cows, 1 heifer, 2 silver spoons, 3 ewes, 3 wethers
daughter: MARGARET  my Irish rug, 2 silver spoons
WILLIAM NOYE's 3 children  12 d. apiece
MARTEN HARRY's 3 children  12 d. apiece
daughter: JOHANE  1 ewe, 1 wether, 2 silver spoons, a coser, a latte?, 
	& my best petticoat
ELIZABETH HOSKEN  1 ewe sheep
WILLYAM HOSKEN's children  1 ewe lamb
RICHARD HOSKEN's children  1 ewe lamb
poor children of Sancreed  3 pounds of wool
RICHARD HOSKEN  3 pounds of my best wool
WILLIAM HOSKEN  1 ewe lamb
JOHANE LANYON  1 heifer & her calf
SAMPSON LANYONE  all the rest & executor

Johane ( ) Noye

witnesses: RICHARD PARKEAGE, clerk, RICHARD ( ) HOSKEN, JOHN ( ) NANGILLIAN, RICHARD BREACHE

Inventory taken 31 August 1606 by JOHN LANYON, gent, SAMPSON NOYE, WILLIAM LANYON & RICHARD BREACHE

AP/N/26
++++++++++

Source: CRO AP/N/26

I did find the following record which shows a connection between the Lanyon & Noye families at Madron.

‘Bargain and sale houses and land at Newlyn Paul

12 Nov 1586

R Rashleigh family of Menabilly
Format Manuscript Extent 1 piece
Description
Parties: 1) Richard Lanyon of Gwinear, esquire, and son John Lanyon of Madron, gentleman to 2) John Noye of Madron, yeoman. Houses and land at Newlyn.’

Source: CRO R/1154

John Lanyon is mentioned in various records. In Mousehole in 1598 A John Lanyne paid 21d on two tenements and a garden in the manor of Alverton.

1605 John signed the inventory of the goods in Raphe Lanyon’s will.

1616 John signed the inventory of the goods in George Lanyon’s will.

John left a will dated 1634 which mentions several Mousehole and Penzance people, tenants and friends.

(John’s surname is spelt various ways – Lannyen, Lamyne, Lanyne, Lanion and Lanyon!)

John died 15 Apr 1634 at Madron. He is described as a ‘gent’.

Madron Parish Register Burials 1634

Will of John Lanion Executed 11 Mar 1634 Proved by Francis Lanion his son.

Bequests of small sums of money are made to the following:-

Alexander Lanion and Davy Lanion my sons. Frances and Thomas sons of Davy Lanion, Gone (Joan) daughter of Davy Lanion. Maud and Ane daughters of Alexander Lanion, Walter and John sons of Alexander Lanion. Margaret and Sara Noy daughters of Sampson Noy, William, Walter, George and Richard Noy sons of Sampson Noy, Elizabeth Jearman (nee Noy) wife of Thomas Jearman. Ane wife of Sampson Noy. Bennet and Sampson Lanion ons of Frances Lanion. Seusane daughter of Frances Lanion. Elezabeath wife of Frances Lanion, Phillip (Philippa) wife of Eleazander (Alexander) Lanion and Jone wife of Davy Lanion.

The Church and poore of Madron. John Treat, John Holla, John Charles and Richard Lanion my god children. Margaret Robins and Jone Robins. John Manly and his sister An Terald. All the rest to Frances Lanion his sonne of Madron who he made executor.

Witnesses: John Osborn (mark), Robert Treuren, Davy Lanione (mark).

Inventory taken by Richard Trewren and John Osborne, yeomen 2 Jun 1634.

Total £39 6s 8d

Source: Exeter Probate Registry – Transcription by Jane Veale Mitchell.

Ane wife of Sampson Noy is John’s daughter Ane Lanyon.