Part of our family tree is connected with the parishes of St Endellion, St Kew and St
Minver in north Cornwall.
This county's records are particularly well preserved and documented and it is possible
to take families right back to the fifteen hundreds, from the time of the 1522 Military
Survery.
(The WERRY / LITTLE outline, added Feb. 2009, is a little further south, around St
Austell.)
We thought it might be of interest to show some of these early outlines, though sources
are not given here. Dates where given will usually be fairly reliable, but whether
or not the information is correctly interpreted and pieced together is another matter.
If anyone has corrections, additions or any other observations, please contact us
at patriciamilan@btinternet.com![[E-MAIL]](images/mail-to.gif)
In addition to the pdf files attached here, we have a number of other Cornwall
outlines, which will follow later. (eg the MITCHELLs -see further down)
October 2010: the most recent of the Cornwall outlines concerns the CONSTABLE
family of St Sampson or Golant, dating from Henry Constable's marriage to Joane GOODING in
1568. The outline follows a number of Quaker families, not least Robert HAWKIN and
Gabriel RUNDELL, en route to Charity BILLING in Port Isaac, grand-daughter of 'Quaker
Billing' of that town.
January 2019: the BILLING alias TRELAWDER outline has taken some time to reach
its still very uncertain uncertain state, and with the Endellion records being so
disappointing there is much that will remain speculation, unfortunately. On the
other hand we have spent many hours going through old wills of the period and they
certainly help clarify some of the family relationships. There is not room to show
all the sources on what is a very large outline; but please contact us for more
details or indeed to point out errors. The outline will just about print out on
A3, but if possible try to locate an A2 printer!
Note the circularity of the relationships. We can now see that John CONSTABLE
married Dorothy HOCKEN, whose sister Ann married Reginald BILLING.
We can be fairly certain of this because in his will of 1643 Reginald BILLING left 40
shillings to his sister-in-law Dorithy CONSTABLE.
January 2011: The BILLING outline has been updated, and thanks to Susanna
BILLING's will of 1764 we have been able to add yet more connections as shown in the new
WADGE / TREVITHICK outline. Unfortunately, the pdf conversion would not work
properly so the text that originally accompanied the outline is set out separately below,
a little more inconvenient, but well worth exploring.
In the name of God Amen. I Susanna BILLING
of the town of Port Isaac within the parish of Endellion in the county of Cornwall
Victualler being weak in body but of a sound and disposing mind memory and understanding,
for which I return thanks to Almighty God; and considering the uncertainty of this life
and the certainty of death do for the preventing and avoiding all such controversies
differences and disputes as might otherwise happen to arise among my relations touching my
temporal effects and concerns after my decease, make and publish this my last will and
testament in manner and form following hereby revoking all former wills by me made . . .
Firstly I commend my Soul to Almighty God my Creator hoping through his mercy and the
merits of Jesus Christ my saviour and redeemer to inherit eternal life and my body I
commit to the earth to be decently interred at the discretion of my executor herein after
named . . .
Also I give devise and bequeath all my goods chattels and effects of what nature or kind
soever to Francis PHILP of the parish of St Kew Maltster whom I appoint my executor in
trust to appraise and make sale of my goods chattels and effects for the payment of my
funeral charges debts and the expense that shall attend this my last will and the legacies
herein after mentioned they giving a proper discharge on the receipt of the same
Also I give to my brother Thomas WADGE ye sum of twenty five pounds to be paid him in five
pounds a year … £5 to be paid within six months after my decease
Also I give to my sister Catherine TREVITHICK ye sum of five pounds to be paid her in
twenty shillings a year
Also I give to Susanna the wife of Pascow BILLING my best silk gown and Callaminto?
quilted coat my best shagg? Hat? best shoes and clogs
Also I give to Susanna the daughter of Pascow and Susanna BILLING my silver milkcup and by
best quilt and to her sister Catherine I give my silver punch ladle and silver tea tongs
and five pounds between them to be equally divided when they arrive at twenty one years of
age or before if their father should happen to die and they should be in want
Also I give to Sarah MITCHELL my best second morning gown best stays? best Callaminto?
quilted coat, a pair of Stuffe? shoes second best quilt and my linning (linen?) Corse? to
be divided between her and her sister Susanna BILLING
Also I give to the above said Sarah MITCHELL fours half hogsheads with iron hoops.
Also I give to Agnes the daughter of Thos. WADGE my best linning (linen?) gown, white
fustian coat and one bound? -------
Also I give to Mary the daughter of John TREVITHICK two gowns one silk and worsted the
other linning and one quilted coat. . .
Also I give to Nicholas TREVITHICK one pound one shilling to be paid within one month
after my decease
Also I give to Thomas MITCHELL all my son John LARK's wearing apparel with his silver
barrel?
Also I give to John the son of William LARK my part in the Boat (Sara ?) which I have with
Pascow BILLING and Francis PHILP
Also I forgive William PHILP all such sum or sums as he may? stand indebted to me at ?
time of my decease
Also I give to William LARK one shilling and to his son William my --- of land in Port
Quinn and one shilling and to his sisters Ann and Mary one shilling each, also I give to
the two daughters of Thomas BILLING Loveday and Elizabeth one shilling each - - Lastly the
remainder of my goods chattels and effects if any be I give to my executor Francis PHILP
to be --------- distributed among my relations at his -------, In witness whereof I the
said Susanna BILLING ------ this writing to be my last will and testament and ---- my hand
and seal ---- this thirteenth day of February 1764Cover date 2nd March 1764 Endellion -
lately deceased Susanna BILLING
also Administration signed by Francis PHILP gent, Wm COPPIN yeoman and James TROY? mason
of Lostwithiel in the sum of two hundred pounds of good and lawful money.
[Occasionally we have struggled in transcribing the text - any corrections would be
appreciated.] |
|
Footnote concerning Catherine LARK and Francis and
William PHILP.
Susanna BILLING’s detailed will mentions seventeen family members and her son John
LARK, presumably deceased. As executor of her will, however, Susanna appoints
Francis PHILP, maltster, of Pendoggett, a hamlet in St Kew parish but only 2 miles from
Port Isaac. Francis PHILP was born in 1725, an elder brother William born in 1720.
Francis married Honor READ on Dec. 9th 1760 at St Kew and after his death in 1780 his wife
described him “as one of the tenderest of husbands”. Neither Francis nor
his brother had a son called William.
It could be thought that an independent well-regarded member of the community could act as
executor to a friend. And Susanna was a Victualler, or provision merchant. What is more
surprising is that William PHILP should have all his debts written off. We know nothing of
him at all, other than his mention in the will. There is no trace of his birth, marriage
or death, at least locally.
The same goes for Susanna's daughter Catherine LARK by her first husband. Again apart from
the fact that her birth is recorded in the Endellion register we have no further
information, so presumably, since she is not mentioned in her mother's will, Catherine had
died. Catherine was born in 1725, less than two years after Francis PHILP.
If Catherine LARK and Francis PHILP married in 1745 or 1746 at Endellion then we may never
know, because between Dec. 23rd 1744 and November 29th 1746 the registers show just one
marriage at Endellion - and this is not very likely to reflect the true number of
marriages. Baptisms were similarly often missed, so it is not inconceivable that William
was born to the couple around this time, and that Catharine then died.
If Francis was Susanna's son-in-law it would certainly explain his role as executor. And
if William was Susanna's grandson it would certainly explain her indulgence to him!
And of course, Francis was not simply a dispassionate outsider. Susanna part-owned a boat
with him. |
|
The maps below may be useful in locating place names, especially those mentioned in the
BILLING and CONSTABLE to BILLING outlines.
JUNE 2011: The MITCHELLS
These MITCHELL outlines have been a long time in the making, and hopefully will prove
useful to anyone researching the Mitchell families of the parish of St Endellion, and the
villages of Port Isaac, Port Gaverne, etc.
Unfortunately the St Endellion records have many gaps, and on top of that it would seem
that people did not always trouble to get to Bodmin when civil registration was introduced
in 1837. On the other hand, the area has a good number of wills available, which can
be very revealing.
The second half of the 19th century saw a huge increase in the number of MITCHELLS in
the area; but apart from two families coming in from outside the county (outline 4) all of
them seem to derive from just one couple, John MITCHELL and Charity BILLING, who married
in 1782. These families are covered in three outlines, which continually overlap
with one another, as the families intermarry. Notice one MITCHELL who marries
another MITCHELL, and then remarries to another, and also the two MITCHELL brothers who
marry two MITCHELL sisters!
It is not practiable here to list all the sources, which will normally be the civil
registration entries after 1837 and the Endellion registers before that, based on our own
inspections and also courtesy of CFHS. Some names of course don't show in the
registers where spellings are very approximate - for example PREDEX for PRIDEAUX etc.
Elizabeth MITCHELL who married William SHIPS has neither a birth nor marriage entry
that I can find; but she is the sole beneficiary of her mother Charity's will.
Up until the arrival of the railways the families stayed remarkably close to their
roots; but then suddenly notice how several members of a single family will all move away
at the same time and to the same new start, be it Carlisle, Bristol, Swansea, London or of
course America.
I have not tried to track all these movements beyond 1900; but a few are listed which
we know of either from direct personal experience or because of internet websites, etc.
There are bound to be mistakes and omissions. We should be interested to hear
of corrections or amendments needed, or about any further information which people care to
offer.
The four outlines are presented here as pdf files which will print out readably at A3
size and above. High Street print shops should be able to help with the larger
sizes, and hopefully you can zoom in sufficiently on screen to find your way around what
is a large and at times complex set of family relationships.
Finally, it appears that adverts are sometimes now appearing with our family tree
outlines. These have nothing to do with us at all.
On the other hand, if you are interested in hearing the splendid mezzo Yvonne Howard
singing some of Robert Browning's "Pippa Passes" or
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How do I love thee?", or
if Kerry Milan's violin and piano sonata or choral settings are of interest, please do
page up to our Home page!
October 2011: We have done more work on the Constable
/ Billing / Hawkin / Rundell Quaker connections in Cornwall, and a pdf Outline connecting
these families is included here, with photographs of Sarah and Samuel RUNDELL's gravestone
at Halbathick, and an early CONSTABLE memorial in St Sampson's Church, Golant. Any
queries, please e-mail .
Quaker World connections in Cornwall
pdf
April 2014: we have added the LYNAM family outline
as it affects our family, dating back to the early 1500s.
We have looked at a good number of wills; but this one for Marjory LYNAM of Treore,
Endellion dating from 1660 is one of the most interesting, in that it paints such a vivid
picture of her character!
In the name
of God Amen I Mariory Lynam of Treore in the parish of Endellion in the county of Cornwall
widow though weak in body
yet of a
sound and perfect body (sic!) praised be Almighty God do make and ordain this my last will
& testament in manner & form
following,
first I bequeath my soul into the hands of Almighty god who gave it me and my body to
Christian burial Item I give
to the poor
of Endellion parish twenty shillings to be distributed by my Executrix Item I give unto
Joseph Rowe my grandson thirteen
pounds six
shillings and eight pence to be paid yearly during his natural life to be paid by my
Executrix or her heirs or assignes by
quarterly
payments by even & equal portions & the same not to sell or put away without the
consent of both his brothers, and in case
the said
Joseph Rowe do challenge any other gift whatsoever out of any my goods or estate that then
my will & meaning is
that I give
him only five shillings, Item I give unto Melior Rowe my granddaughter two hundred pounds
to be paid her two
years after
my decease And in case the two hundred pounds be not paid at the time aforesaid that then
I give & bequeath her
the said
Melior Rowe one tenement in Treore which tenement I hold by lease of Hugh Boscowen Esq.
for ninety & nine years if
Thomas Rowe
Joseph Rowe and Elizabeth Rowe so long should happen to live Item I give & devise to
my granddaughter Elizabeth
Rowe & to
her heirs and assignes all my lands & tenements in the borough of East Looe &
Shutta to begin her time or take
thereunto
immediately after my decease. Item I give unto John Marten of St Teath the sum of seven
pounds to be paid him in twenty
shillings a
year and to each of his children five pounds Item I give unto Mariory Gattee my servant
meat drink lodging & apparel
during her
natural life And in case my Executrix do refuse to give her sufficient maintenance then I
give and bequeath her the
higher Lamble
park during her natural life Item I give unto each of my covenant servants five shillings
which shall be dwelling
with me at
the time of my death. Item I give more to Mariory Gattee ten shillings a year during her
natural life Item I give
to each of
John Davyes children twenty shillings. Item I give to each of Frances Barkers children
twenty shillings. Item I give unto each
of John
Hoskins children of Bucklawren in St Martin twenty shillings Item I give & bequeath
and devise to my grandson Abraham Rowe
the third
part of my orchard which is called by the name of Foote Orchard to take it at his own
choice. Item my will & meaning
is that
Abraham Rowe Melior Rowe & Elizabeth Rowe shall and behaving themselves as they do
before my death for the space
of two years.
All the rest of my goods and chattels I give & bequeath unto Joan Rowe my daughter and
her I do make my whole
& sole
Executrix revoking all former wills whatsoever In witness whereof I the said Mariory Lynam
to this my last
will &
testament have set my hand & seal the twelfth day of November in the year of our Lord
god 1660. |
Also April 2014 we are adding a rather different outline, called 1066 to the Restoration,
which does just that, following some of the families connected with Charity PRIDEAUX who
married John LYNAM in October 1610.
