Jonathan Trelawny, son of Sir Jonathan Trelawny, of Trelawny, in
Cornwall, Baronet, was born, as I have been informed, at Pelent, or
Pelynt, in the same county, educated at Westminster School, entered
into Christ Church in Michaelmas Term 1668, aged 18 (born therefore in
1650); and in the year following was made student thereof. Afterwards
he took the degrees in arts, holy orders, and one or two benefices in
his own county, conferred upon him by his relations.
In 1680 his eldest brother died, and thereupon, though the title of
baronet and the paternal estate of his family were to come to him
after the death of his father, yet he stuck to his holy orders,
continued in his functions, and upon the translation of Doctor John
Lake to the see of Chichester, was nominated Bishop of Bristol by his
Majesty, (King James the Second, Nov. 8, 1685,) whereupon, after he
had been diplomated doctor of divinity, he was consecrated, November
the 8th 1685, in the Archbishop’s Chapel at Lambeth, and introduced
into the House of Lords with Dr. Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells, on the
11th day of the same month. On the 8th of June 1688 he was one of the
six Bishops, besides Doctor Sancroft the Archbishop, that were
committed prisoners to the Tower of London, for the alleged offence of
contriving, making, and publishing a seditious libel against his
Majesty and his government; that is for subscribing a petition to his
Majesty, wherein he and the rest of the said Bishops showed the great
averseness that they found in themselves to the distributing and
publishing in all their churches his Majesty’s late declaration for
liberty of conscience, &c. Where continuing till they were publicly
tried in Westminster Hall for the same, they were, to the great joy of
the true sons of the Church of England, released thence on the 15th of
the same month. Subsequently, however, the see of Exeter was conferred
on him by King James, vacant by the translation thence to York of
Doctor Lamplugh; and about the 7th of April following, his Majesty
King William the Third was pleased to give his royal assent for him,
the said Doctor Jonathan Trelawny, Bishop of Bristol, to be Bishop of
Exeter, in the place of Doctor Lamplugh, beforementioned.
From the Fasti it appears that Jonathan Trelawny, of Christ Church,
was admitted Bachelor of Arts on the 14th of May 1672, and Master of
Arts April the 29th, 1675. And on October the 26th, 1685, Sir Jonathan
Trelawny, Bart. Master of Arts of Christ Church, the nominated Bishop
of Bristol, was diplomated Doctor of Divinity.
As this gentleman was made Bishop of Bristol by King James the Second,
and after his commitment to the Tower and acquittal, accepted from him
an appointment to the bishopric of Exeter, almost the last act of that
king’s government, which appointment was almost immediately confirmed
to him by King William on his joining in the Revolution, one may apply
in his case the observation made by the most philosophical writer of
English history, on the Duke of Marlborough, when he led over Queen
Anne to the Prince of Orange.
“This conduct was a singular sacrifice to public virtue of
every duty in private life, and required for ever after the
most upright, disinterested, and public-spirited behaviour
to render it justifiable.”
He was further advanced by Queen Anne, being again translated, on the
14th of January 1707, to the see of Winchester. He died on the 21st of
June 1721.
He married Rebecca, daughter and coheiress of Thomas Hele, esq. of
Boscome, in Devonshire, and left a numerous family, but none of his
sons left families, and only two of his daughters; Letitia, who
married her cousin Henry Trelawny; and Rebecca, married to Mr. John
Buller, of Morvall.
Few men ever obtained so great a share of popularity among all ranks
and degrees in his own country as did the Bishop, when he protested
against the insidious declaration of King James the Second, and
sustained persecution in consequence of the support he had given to
the Church of England. Fears were entertained, or apprehensions were
industriously circulated, of extremities never contemplated; and the
prompt acquittal of the Bishops seems alone to have prevented Cornwall
from rising in arms.
A Song was made on the occasion, of which all the exact words, except
those of what may be called the burden, were lost, but the whole has
recently been restored, modernized, and improved by the Rev. Robert
Stephen Hawker, of Whitstone, near Stratton.
The strong sensation excited throughout England, by that decisive act
of bigotry, tyranny, and imprudence, on the part of King James the
Second, by which he committed the seven Bishops to the Tower, was
in no district more manifestly displayed than in Cornwall,
notwithstanding the part taken by that county in the Civil War. This
was, probably, in a great degree occasioned by sympathy with this
respected Cornish gentleman, then Bishop of Bristol. The following
Song is said to have resounded in every house, in every highway, and
in every street.
A good sword and a trusty hand,
A merry heart and true;
King James’s men shall understand
What Cornish men can do.
And have they fix’d the Where and When?
And shall TRELAWNY die?
Then twenty thousand Cornish Men
Will know the reason why!
Out spake the Captain brave and bold,
A merry wight was he,
Tho’ London Tower were [8]Michael’s Hold,
We’d set TRELAWNY free!
We’ll cross the Tamar, land to land,
The Severn is no stay;
And side by side, and hand in hand,
And who shall bid us nay!
And when we come to London Wall,
A pleasant sight to view,
Come forth! come forth! ye cowards all;
Here are better men than you.
TRELAWNY he’s in Keep and Hold;
TRELAWNY he may die!――――
But twenty thousand Cornish bold
Will know “The Reason Why.”
The song may be sung to the tune of “Auld lang syne.”
The seven Bishops were:
William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury; consecrated
1678; deprived 1690-1; ob. 1693.
William Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph; consecrated 1680;
translated to Lichfield and Coventry, 1692; and to Worcester
1699; ob. 1717.
Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells; consecrated 1683;
deprived 1690-1; ob. 1710.
Francis Turner, Bishop of Ely; consecrated 1683; deprived
1690-1; ob. 1700.
John Lake, Bishop of Chichester; consecrated 1682; suspended
at the Revolution, but died 1689.
Thomas White, Bishop of Peterborough; consecrated 1685;
deprived 1890-1; ob. 1698.
Sir Jonathan Trelawny, Bishop of Bristol; consecrated 1685;
translated to Exeter in 1689, to Winchester in 1707; ob.
1721.
Bishop Trelawny has left at Christ Church a very valuable, esteemed,
and appropriate memorial of himself, and of the Founder. Over the
south-east gate of the great quadrangle, leading to the staircase of
the hall, is a fine statue of Cardinal Wolsey, with the following
inscription:
Eminentissimo Cardinali Thomæ Wolseio,
viro inter hæc menia semper memorando,
P.
Reverendus in Christo Pater Jonathan Trelawny,
de Trelawny, in comitatu Cornubiæ Baronettus,
hujusce Ædis olim Alumnus,
Wolseii in Episcopatu Wintoniensi successor,
et Wolseianæ erga hanc Domum munificentiæ æmulus,
A. D. M.DCC.XIX.
Edward Trelawny, esq. one of the Bishop’s sons, had the honour of
being made Governor of Jamaica; and most fortunately for the Island,
besides many other prudent and judicious acts, he pacified a
formidable body of revolted negroes, who had long sustained a savage
independence, held the fastnesses belonging to the chain of mountains
which divides Jamaica throughout its whole length, and maintained a
predatory war against all the settlers. The treaty with these people,
called Maroons, was in itself so equitable that it continued to be
observed up to the period when the whirl of political opinions in
Europe, mingled with others of fanatical enthusiasm, extended to these
people, and in consequence they were all either exterminated or sent
to perish in distant countries.
Sir William Trelawny, the sixth Bart. great-nephew of Edward Trelawny,
was also Governor of Jamaica, in less trying times, and the period of
his service was cut short by a premature death in 1772, when the
property descended to his only son, Harry Trelawny, then a boy at
school.
The career of this individual, though extraordinary and eccentric,
need not be given in any detail. He appears to have been a man of
naturally a strong understanding, but having imbibed the spirit of
fanaticism in early youth, it carried him in all directions, as fancy
guided, with equal facility; but in general directly against the
consent of modern opinions, which have repudiated implicit confidence
in traditions, in the decrees of councils, and in the dicta of ancient
fathers, or of popes, substituting in their place the exercise of
private judgment; guided no doubt in practice by the teacher who
happens to carry with him the fashion of the day.
Sir Harry Trelawny commenced preaching at Westminster school. He
proceeded to Oxford, where in consequence of nonconformity he could
not obtain a degree. He then took orders in the church of Scotland,
and began a course of preaching in various meeting houses, especially
in one of his own erecting at West Looe. In the course of a few years,
after the novelty had worn away, he complied with the requisite
observances at Oxford and was admitted to a degree. He then received
orders as a clergyman of the Church of England from Doctor John Ross,
Bishop of Exeter, and soon afterwards the living of St. Allan, which
he exchanged with his relation Dr. William Buller, the succeeding
Bishop, for Egloshayle. This living he ultimately resigned on becoming
a Roman Catholic, and died in Italy, February the 25th, 1834, having,
as it is said, received the nominal honour from the holy See of being
appointed a Bishop in Partibus Infidelium. He married Anne, daughter
of the Rev. James Brown, of Somersetshire, and has left a large
family.
An event connected with the death of this gentleman, and which
occurred about a year afterwards, roused the scorn of the whole
parish, and of the neighbourhood, more than any thing that has taken
place there within the memory of the oldest person.
Several priests arrived from the continent, bringing with them an
empty coffin, and the various apparatus used in Catholic services,
when masses were said and requiems sung at Trelawny for the peace of
this individual’s soul, who had died and was buried in Italy, where it
would seem that these pageants should have been celebrated, on the
double supposition of their being really efficacious, and that the
Almighty is incapable of hearing them from any other than a single
spot. For if the latter supposition were not admitted, they might as
well have been performed in France, from whence it is apprehended the
priests embarked, unless indeed we suppose of these as of other
histriones, that Μονον αργυρον βλεπουσιν; and in regard to such a
subject, we may fairly go on to add, without want of charity, Απολοιτο
πρωτος αυτος ὁ τον αργυρον φιλησας.
His eldest son, Sir William Lewis Salusbury Trelawny, married
Patience, only daughter of John Phillipps Carpenter, esq. of Mount
Tavey, near Tavistock, and is now one of the members in parliament for
Cornwall, residing for the present at Harewood, on the banks of the
Tamar.
Pelynt measures 4,170 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 4,732 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 594 19 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 630 | 708 | 750 | 804
giving an increase of 27½ per cent. in 30 years.