a large tree might be cut down that had grown in the midst of the
tower and threatened it with injury. No sooner was it bruited about
that access to the interior was to be had than crowds of visitors came
out from Plymouth and Devonport, expecting to be able to find within
some relics of Sir James Tillie, Bart., whose burial-place was the
lower chamber, where now is only to be seen his statue.
Hals says, the spelling modernized: "About the year 1712 Sir James
Tillie died, and, as I am informed, by his last will and testament
obliged his adopted heir, one Woolley, his sister's son, not only to
assume his name (having no legitimate issue), but that he should not
inter his body after death in the earth, but fasten it in the chair
where he died with wire--his hat, wig, rings, gloves, and best apparel
on, shoes and stockings, and surround the same with an oak chest, box,
or coffin, in which his books and papers should be laid, with pen and
ink also--and build for the reception thereof, in a certain field of
his lands, a walled vault or grot, to be arched with moorstone, in
which repository it should be laid without Christian burial; for that,
as he said but an hour before he died, in two years space he would be
at Pentillie again; over this vault his heir likewise was obliged to
build a fine chamber, and set up therein the picture of him, his lady,
and adopted heir, for ever; and at the end of this vault and chamber
to erect a spire or lofty monument of stone, from thence for
spectators to overlook the contiguous country, Plymouth Sound and
Harbour; all which, as I am told, is accordingly performed by his
heir, whose successors are obliged to repair the same for ever out of
his lands and rents, under penalty of losing both.
"However, I hear lately, notwithstanding this his promise of returning
in two years to Pentillie, that Sir James's body is eaten out with
worms, and his bones or skeleton fallen down to the ground from the
chair wherein it was seated, about four years after it was set up; his
wig, books, wearing apparel, also rotten in the box or chair where it
was first laid."
[Illustration: SIR JAMES TILLIE, KNT.]
The lower chamber, not underground, in which Sir James was seated was
not vaulted over as he directed. The portraits in the upper chamber
have been removed to Pentillie Castle, where they may now be seen.
But, as already intimated, the statue was erected where the body was,
and beneath it is the inscription:--
This Monument is erected
In Memory
of
S^{ir} James Tillie kn^t who dyed
15 of Nov^r
Anno Domini 1713
And in y^e 67^{th} year of his Age.
It is thought--but no evidence exists to show that it was so--that the
bones of Sir James were collected by Mary Jemima, the last of the
Tillie family and the heiress who carried Pentillie to the Coryton
family about 1770, and transferred to the churchyard of S. Mellion.
When the chamber was entered recently and the tree cut down and
eradicated, no traces of the dead man could be found.
Hals, in his MS. _History of Cornwall_, says: "Pentyley a hous and
church built by one Mr. James Tyley, son of ... in ye parish of S.
Keverne, labourer as I am inform'd." The father's name was John. "And
was placed by him a servant or horseman to S^{ir} John Coryton, Bart.,
the Elder, who afterwards by his assistance learning the inferiour
practice of the Lawe under an Atturney, became his Steward, in which
caracter by his Care and Industry he soon grew Rich, soe that he
marryed Sir Henry Vane's daughter; by whome he had a good fortune or
estate, but noe issue; at Length after the Death of his Master (1680)
he became a Guardian in Trust for his younger children, and Steward
to their elder Brother, Sir John, that marryed Chiverton, whereby he
augmented his wealth and fame to a greater pitch. When, soon after,
King James II came to the Crown, this gentleman by a great sume of
money and false representation of himselfe obtained the favour of
knighthood at his hands, but that Kinge some short while after beinge
inform'd that Mr. Tyley was at first but a Groome or Horseman to Sir
John Coryton, that he was no Gentleman of Blood or armes, and yet gave
for his Coat-armour the armes of Count Tillye of Germany, ordered the
Heraulds to enquire into this matter; who findinge this information
trew, by the King's order entered his Chamber at London, tooke downe
those arms, tore others in pieces, and fastened them all to Horse
tayles and drew them through the streets of London, to his perpetuall
Disgrace, and disgraced him from the dignity of that beinge, and
impos'd a fyne of £500 upon him for so doing, as I am inform'd--but
alas, maugre all those proceedings, after the death of his then
Master, Sir John Coryton the Younger, not without suspicion of being
poysoned, he soon marryed his Lady, with whome Common fame said he was
too familiar before, soe that he became possest of her goods and
chattels, and a great Joynture. Whereby he liveth in much pleasure and
comfort in this place, honour'd of some, lov'd of none; admiring
himself for the Bulk of his Riches and the Arts and Contrivances by
which he gott it--some of which were altogether unlawfull, witness his
steward, Mr. Elliott, being credited for a mint and coyning false
money for his use; who on notice thereof forsooke this Land, and fled
beyond the Seas, though the other Agent and Confederate, Cavals
Popjoye, indicted for the same crime of High Treason committed at
Saltash, was taken, tryed and found guilty and executed at Lanceston,
1695, at which tyme the writer of these Lynes was one of the Grand
Jury for the body of this County, that found those Bills--when William
Williams of Treworgy in Probus Esq. was sheriff, and John Waddon,
Esq., foreman of the Jury."
After this, written at a later date, comes the passage relative to the
burial arrangements of Sir James, already quoted.
With regard to the above statement, a few remarks may be made. Sir
John Coryton died in 1680, just after he had obtained a licence for
concluding a second marriage with Anne Wayte, of Acton, widow.
His son, Sir John, married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir
Richard Chiverton, Kt., Lord Mayor of London, and a wealthy skinner.
Sir James Tillie's first wife was Margaret, daughter of Sir Harry
Vane, the Parliamentarian, who was executed in 1662. Tillie was
knighted at Whitehall, 14th January, 1686-7, and he built Pentillie
Castle. In one of the quadrangles of the castle is a leaden statue of
the knight with flowing wig, a roll of papers in one hand like the
baton of a field-marshal, and with preternaturally short legs.
In Luttrell's _Brief Relation of State Affairs_ there is some mention
of the affair of the assumed arms. He says, under date November 26th,
1687: "Sir James Tillie of Cornwall was brought up upon an habeas
corpus, being committed by the Court of Chivalry for refusing to find
bail there, and was remanded.
"January 19th, 1687-8. The Court of Chivalry satt, and fined Sir James
Tilly £200 for his crime."
Hals, accordingly, was wrong in saying that he was fined £500.
Hals thinks (he does no more) that Sir James was mixed up in the
coining business. If he got rich by nefarious practices, it was
probably by filling his pockets out of the Coryton estates, of which
he was steward under two of the baronets.
Sir James Tillie's will by no means carries with it the character of
impiety attributed to it by Hals. It is headed: "Dei voluntas fiat, et
mei hac performet." In it he mentions the date of his birth, November
16th, 1645. It is a very long will, and in it he laboured in every
conceivable way to found a family. As he had no children of his own,
he made his eldest nephew heir, but in the event of his dying without
issue, then his estates passed to his second, and so on. At the end he
wrote: "I desire my Body may have a private interment at and in such a
place in Pentillie Castle as I have acquainted my dearest wife, the
Lady Elizabeth Tillie, with, and to have such monument erected and
inscription thereon made as I have desired my said wife."
The paper of instructions left with her is still extant; of that more
presently. He proceeds: "Although I have made a provision for my said
wife out of my Lands, yet in regard to her kindness to me whilst
living, and that tenderness to my memory which I know she will have
after my death, for the uses hereinafter mentioned, I give and
bequeath unto my said wife all her Paraphaanalia [_sic_], apparell,
jewells and ornaments of her Person, all the Books, China, Portraits
and Toyes in her Closett at Pentillie Castle, my Coach, Chariott,
Calash and set of six horses with two such of my other Horses and
Cowes as shall please her to elect, and also a Hundred Guineas in
money for her life and then for her grandchildren.
"To Altmira Tillie go the £500 payable on the day of marriage with
either one of my said nephews. But on her marriage with any other my
will is that she shall have only £250.
"To my Cousin Mary Mattock £50 to be paid on her marriage Day with
any other than William Parkes, but on her marriage with him this
legacy is to be void.
"_Then_ I give unto my said Wife fifty pounds for my ffunerall desireing
four of my ancientest workmen may lay me in my grave, unto whom I give
fforty shillings apiece. And to William Trenaman ten pounds. And to my
honest Richard Lawreate in Meate and Drink for his owne person to the
value of Two shillings and sixpence per weeke at Pentillie during his
Life. To my domestique servants living with me at my Death fforty
shillings each, To Samuel Holman his Tooles, and to John Long a joynt of
Mutton weekly during his Life, as I have done. In witness thereof I have
hereunto sett my hand and seal this 22nd day of March, 1703/4, etc."
One very curious and most unusual feature in the proving of this will
was that the original was handed over to James Tillie, the nephew, in
place of an attested copy, and only a copy retained in the Consistory
Court.
As Sir James had no right to bear arms, his nephew, James Tillie,
obtained a grant from the Heralds' College, November 1st, 1733. The
arms given him were as follows: _Arg., a cross fleury gules, in chief
three eagles' heads couped, sable_; and as a crest, on a wreath of the
colours, _a demi-phœnix rising out of flames ppr. and charged on the
breast with a cross fleury sa_.
The memorandum referred to by Sir James in his will, containing
instructions as to his burial, is still extant, and it is by no means
as extravagant as represented by Hals.
Gilpin, in his _Observations on the West Parts of England_, 1798, gave
currency to the story as amplified by tradition, and thenceforth it
was generally accepted and obtained currency.
Gough, in his Camden's _Britannia_, 1789, says: "In the rocks of
Whitsand Bay, Tilly, Esq., who died about fifty years ago, remarkable
for the freedom of his principles and life, was inclosed by his own
order, dressed in his clothes, sitting, his face to the door of a
summer-house at Pentelly, the key put under the door, and his figure
in wax, in the same dress and attitude in the room below."
Gough makes several mistakes. Pentillie is a great many miles from
Whitsand Bay, and he was placed not among rocks, but on the summit of
a hill called Ararat. The figure carved in the attitude in which
placed to rest is in sandstone, and not in wax; and finally it is not
in a summer-house, but in a lofty brick tower, erected after his
death, the bill for the erection of which is still in existence.
Notwithstanding all his schemes to found a family, his posterity failed
in the male line, and the castle and Tillie lands passed as follows:--
John Tillie,
labourer, S. Kevern.
|
+--------+-------------+
| |
(2) Elizab. = (1) Margaret = Sir James Tillie. da. = Woolley.
da. Sir R. da. of Sir b. Nov. 16, 1645. |
Chiverton and H. Vane. |
wid. of Sir |
John Coryton. |
|
+------------------+
|
Wm. Goodall = Elizabeth, James Tillie Woolley = Esther ....
| da. Sir John als. Tillie, Sheriff |
| Coryton. of Cornwall, 1734. |
| |
+---------+ +----------+
| |
John Goodall = Margery Major. James Tillie = Mary ....
| |
+------+ |
| |
Peter Goodall = .... |
d. 1756. | +------------------------+
| |
John Coryton = Mary Jemima Tillie.
|
+-----+
|
John Tillie Coryton,
b. 1773; d. 1843.
[Illustration: SIR JAMES TILLIE'S MONUMENT AT PENTILLIE]
There was an illustrious and ancient family of Tilly, or Tylly, at
Cannington, in Somersetshire, deriving from a De Tilly in the reign of
Henry II, and the parish of West Harptree in the same county is
divided into two manors, one of which is West Harptree-Tilly. The arms
of this Tilly family were only a dragon erect, _sable_, and as such
appear in glass in the windows of Cannington Church.
That Sir James Tillie could claim no descent from this family is
evident from his not assuming their arms. Had the Heralds been able to
trace any connection whatever, they would have given to the nephew a
coat resembling the Tilly arms of Cannington but not identical.
It must be borne in mind that the possession of a surname of a noble
or gentle family by no means indicates that the bearer had a drop of
that family's blood in his veins; for it was quite a common thing when
surnames began to be acquired for the domestic servants in a house to
be called after their master, or that they should assume their
patronymics, much as in _High Life Below Stairs_ the menial servants
assume the titles of their masters as well as their names. This
practice was so common that always in the neighbourhood of a great
house, that has lived on through many centuries, will be found among
the villagers in a very humble walk of life persons bearing the
surname of the illustrious family in the castle, the hall, or the
manor. How a dependent of the Tilly family of Cannington drifted down
to the Lizard is not easily explained; it may be that this Tilly was
descended from one of the regiments that Charles I sent down to the
Scilly Isles, and which was left there and forgotten.
LIEUTENANT JOHN HAWKEY
Joseph Hawkey, of Liskeard, and his wife Amye, daughter of the Rev. John
Lyne, had a numerous family. John was the eldest son, born at Liskeard
in 1780; the other sons were William, Joseph, Richard, and Charles.
There was also a daughter Charlotte, born at Liskeard 10th May, 1799.
Lieutenant Joseph Hawkey, R.N., born at Liskeard in 1786, was killed
in action while commanding a successful attack on a Russian flotilla
in the Gulf of Finland in 1809.
John also entered the navy, as midshipman in the _Minerva_. A few
months after the renewal of the war in 1803 he was taken prisoner
whilst gallantly defending that ship, when she was unfortunately run
by the pilot, during a dense fog, on the west point of the stone dyke
of Cherbourg. Hawkey remained in captivity at Verdun for eleven years,
till 1814.
A commission of lieutenant had been sent out to him by mistake to the
West Indies, which being dated previous to his capture was not
cancelled, but forwarded to him in France, and was thus the means in
some degree of alleviating the evils of captivity. Whilst at Verdun he
made the acquaintance of Lieutenant Tuckey, R.N., a person like himself
a prisoner, and like him of fine taste and considerable talents.
His prospects had been cruelly clouded by his long detention in
captivity, and on the conclusion of peace he at once joined the
_Cyrus_, sloop of war; but when the Government proposed to send out
an expedition to explore the Zaire or Congo, and appointed Tuckey in
command, Lieutenant Hawkey eagerly accepted the invitation of his
friend to join him and act as second in command.
At this time little was known of the Congo and the Niger. Hitherto
what was known was due to Arabian writers of the Middle Ages, and to
what leaked out from the Portuguese; but these latter, who carried on
an extensive slave trade thence, did their utmost to keep their
knowledge of these rivers to themselves. But even they were not well
acquainted with the rivers far up from their mouths. Mungo Park was
preparing for his second expedition to explore the Niger, and it was
even supposed that the Congo or Zaire that flows into the South
Atlantic was an outlet of the Niger, and not an independent river; and
this opinion was warmly expounded by Park in a memoir addressed to
Lord Camden previous to his departure from England, and he added that,
if this should turn out to be a fact, "considered in a commercial
point of view, it is second only to the discovery of the Cape of Good
Hope; and, in a geographical point of view, it is certainly the
greatest discovery that remains to be made in this world."
On March 19th, 1816, the _Congo_, accompanied by the _Dorothy_
transport, sailed on a voyage of exploration to the Zaire. The _Congo_
was about ninety tons, schooner rigged, and drew five feet of water.
She was fitted up entirely for the accommodation of officers and men,
and for the reception of the objects of natural history which might be
collected on her progress up the river. The gentlemen engaged on the
expedition, in the scientific department, were: Professor Smith, of
Christiania, botanist and geologist; Mr. Tudor, comparative anatomist;
Mr. Cranch, collector of objects of natural history; and a gardener
to gather plants and seeds for Kew; also Mr. Galway, a gentleman
volunteer. There were two negroes, who would serve as interpreters,
one of whom came from eight hundred miles up the Zaire. The officers
were: Captain Tuckey, Lieutenant Hawkey, Mr. Fitzmaurice, master and
surveyor, Mr. McKernow, assistant surgeon, two master's mates, and a
purser. In addition to the _Congo_, the transport took out two double
whale-boats, so fitted as to be able to carry eighteen to twenty men,
with three months' provisions.
Lieutenant Hawkey was an excellent draughtsman; he sketched in a bold
and artistic manner, and to a general knowledge of natural history he
united the talent of painting the minutest sea and land animals with
great spirit and accuracy.
Although the vessels sailed from Deptford on February 16th, they were
detained in the Channel and at Falmouth by westerly gales till March
19th. On April 9th they reached the Cape de Verd Islands, whence he
wrote home to his sister Charlotte:--
"PORTO PRAYA, S. JAGO, _August 11th, 1816_.
"My Angel,--I am just able to hold my pen and tell you that I am alive,
after being as near death as ever mortal being was. The day before
yesterday we arrived here. Captain Tuckey and myself went to wait on the
governor, the commissary, and captain of the transport, to procure
refreshments. We were graciously received--saluted by his black
guards--took a walk in the country--returned, intending to go on board
to dinner. There is a heavy surf on the beach, and squalls are very
frequent from the mountains; one of which, when we were about a cable's
length from the shore, upset our boat. I intended swimming composedly on
shore, but something or some person caught my leg, and I could not by
any exertion get my head above water. It instantly struck me that some
one who could not swim had seized me, hoping to save himself; and I swam
in what I conceived to be the direction of the shore, under water. My
senses I preserved as fully as at present. O Lord, methought, what pain
it was to drown! What dreadful noise of water in my ears! I thought my
last hour was come. Still I struggled violently, but finding it
impossible to retain my breath longer, I took off my hat and held it
above the water. A black boy, who had swam off with several other, got
hold of it, and then of me. From that moment all recollection ceased
until I found myself with my stomach on an empty cask on the beach,
surrounded by my own party and blacks. My sufferings were very acute;
the absolute pain of dying--which ceremony I completely underwent--was
nothing in comparison. The different means prescribed for the recovery
of drowned persons were used; and as soon as possible I was conveyed on
board. A determination of blood to the head and lungs took place; all
night I was in danger; but it is now going fast off, but I am in a state
of absolute debility. Captain Tuckey says I was more than five minutes
under water--a longer time than the most experienced divers can remain.
Note, I was in full uniform--boots, sword--and my pockets full of stones
and shells I had picked up on shore. Captain Tuckey lost his sword; his
watch and mine are both spoiled."
Cape Padrone, at the mouth of the Congo, was reached on July 6th. The
transport was left a little way up, and the party of exploration
pushed on up the river. The mouth of the Congo was found to be about
fifteen miles wide. Far inland were seen naked hills of sand.
Professor Smith wrote in his diary:--
"July 7th.--Early this morning the mafock, or governor, came on board
in two canoes, with his retinue. At first his pretensions were very
lofty. He insisted on being saluted with a discharge of cannon, and on
observing us going to breakfast declared that he expected to be placed
at the same table with the captain, and endeavoured to make his words
sufficiently impressive by haughty gesticulations. Sitting on the
quarter-deck in a chair covered with a flag, his dress consisting of a
laced velvet cloak, a red cap, a piece of stuff round his waist,
otherwise naked, with an umbrella over his head, though the weather
was cold and cloudy, he represented the best caricature I ever saw. He
soon became more moderate on being informed that the vessels were not
belonging to slave merchants, but to the King of England, and that our
object was to trade. In order to give him a proof of our goodwill
towards him, a gun was discharged and a merchant flag hoisted."
A good many negroes after this came on board. They were nearly all
nominally Christians. Among them was a Catholic priest, who had been
ordained at Loando. He had been baptized two years before his
ordination at S. Antonio.
"The barefooted black apostle, however, had no fewer than five wives.
A few crosses on the necks of the negroes, some Portuguese prayers,
and a few lessons taught by heart, are the only fruits that remain of
the labours (of the Portuguese missionaries) of three hundred years."
Proceeding up the river, threading a tangle of islands and sandbanks,
the vessels stood off Embonna, where they came across an American
slaver flying Swedish colours. Here there had been several Portuguese
slave-dealing ships, but on hearing of the arrival in the river of
the English vessels during the night they slipped away.
On July 25th they came to the Fetiche Rock, a mass of micaceous granite
rising perpendicularly out of the river, with eddies and whirlpools at
its feet. The surface of the rock is covered with sculptured figures,
which Lieutenant Hawkey drew, and which he managed to interpret.
On July 26th Captain Tuckey and others landed at Lombee, a village of
a hundred huts, and the king's market, and here they went to visit the
chenoo, or king.
"Having seated myself," wrote Tuckey, "the chenoo made his appearance
from behind a mat-screen, his costume conveying the idea of Punch in a
puppet show, being composed of a crimson plush jacket with curious
gilt buttons, a lower garment in the native style in red velvet, his
legs muffled in pink sarsenet, and a pair of red morocco half-boots.
On his head an immense high-crowned hat embroidered with gold, and
surmounted by a kind of coronet of European artificial flowers. Having
seated himself on the right, a master of the ceremonies with a long
staff in his hand inquired into the rank of the gentlemen, and seated
them accordingly.