Is situate in the hundred of Powdre, and hath upon the north Probus
and the Val river; east, St. Tue; west, Ruan Lanyhorne. This new name
is taken from the tutelar patron and guardian of this church after it
was erected; for in the Domesday Tax, 1087, this district passed under
the names of Trigony, Tregny, and Tregony Medan.
At the time of the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and
Winchester into the value of Cornish benefices, 1294, it was rated by
the name of Ecclesia de Tregny, cvi_s._ viii_d._ Vicar ibidem xx_s._
in dec. de Powdre. In Wolsey’s Inquisition 1521, 10_l._ 4_s._ by the
name of St. Cuby and Januarius. The patronage formerly in the prior of
Bodman, who endowed it, now Prideaux; the incumbent Bedford; and the
parish rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 91_l._ 13_s._
9_d._ The borough of Tregony 71_l._ 10_s._
The history of St. Cuby. He was the son to Solomon, Duke, King, or
Earl of Cornwall, about the year 350; and being bred up a zealous
Christian of the orthodox faith, and finding the churches of Britain
much pestered with the heresy of the Arians, who denied the equality
of the persons in the Trinity or Godhead, holding one to be before or
superior to the other, Cuby not inclining to receive this new
doctrine, especially having read some of the writings of St. Hilary,
Bishop of Poictiers in Gaul, in opposition thereto; he made addresses
to that worthy father in order to his better instruction; by whom he
was kindly invited into Gaul, and went there accordingly. He was so
charmed with the wisdom, piety, and holy doctrine of St. Hilary, that
he became his disciple, and was by him ordained or consecrated priest,
and took upon him the office of a preacher; in which capacity he grew
so famous for his preachings in that country, he was at length, by St.
Hilary, sent missioner of the gospel into North Wales; and he proved
so successful therein, that the greatest part of the people were
converted to the Christian faith, and the altars and images of
Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, Minerva, and other gods worshipped by the
Britons and Romans there, were thrown down and defaced. Capgrave, who
compiled his life, tells us that St. Cuby wrought miracles, gave sight
to the blind, cleansed the leprous, caused the dumb to speak, cured
the palsy, and those possessed of devils. Moreover, saith he, Cuby was
in Ireland, where he preached the gospel, and built churches there
before St. Patrick came into that country. And he further saith of
him, that he was very studious of the peace of the church. And Bale
tells us he was such a self-denying man that, after his father’s
death, he refused the dominion of Cornwall, his fortune, and wealth,
out of a desire he had to acquire learning, and to preach the gospel.
Leland tells us in his Itinerary Manuscripts, that St. Hilary made St.
Cuby Bishop of the Isle of Anglesey; that he died about the year of
our Lord 400; after his death his disciples set up his shrine, that
is, his bones, in his church there; and when the Irishmen of Dublin, a
thousand years after, in June 1404, invaded the island and found this
relic, they carried away the same, and set it up in the church of the
Holy Trinity in Dublin. Nevertheless there are still extant in the
Isle of Anglesey three notable monuments of him and his master, viz.
Point Hilary, Holyhead, and Caer-Cuby, viz. Cuby’s City or Castle.
That Tregony Borough was invested with the privileges of a manor and
court-leet, before the Norman Conquest, Domesday Roll informs us. How
long before by prescription, no man living can tell. King Henry I.
(the Earldom of Cornwall being then vested in the Crown) gave it the
freedom of sending two burgesses, citizens, or townsmen, to sit in
Parliament as its representatives, to be chosen by the majority of the
townsmen that were housekeepers; which favour was obtained upon the
humble petition of Henry de Pomeroy, lord of this manor, temp. of the
said Henry I. But this place was not incorporated but by the charter
of King James I. 1621; and consists of a mayor, recorder, and eight
capital burgesses, the eldest of which is justice of the peace for
life within the borough. It hath also a weekly market on Saturdays,
and fairs yearly upon May 3, July 25, September 1, November 6, and
Shrove Tuesday. The castle of Tregony, as tradition saith, was built
by the said Pomeroy, on behalf of John Earl of Cornwall, in opposition
to King Richard I. his elder brother, then beyond the seas in the Holy
War. The chief inhabitants of this town are Mr. Tonkin, Mr. Penlyer,
Mr. Peters, Mr. Earle. The arms of which borough are, a pine-apple, or
pomegranate, on its stem, with two leaves.
This Pomeroy was the descendant of Ralph de Pomeroy, or Pomeraye, that
came into England with William the Conqueror, and was such a friend
and favourite of his, as Dugdale saith in his Baronage, that he
conferred upon him fifty-eight lordships, whereof this Tregony and
Wich (now Mary Wike) in Cornwall, were two; perhaps such lands as fell
to the Crown by virtue of their lord or owner’s rebellion against the
Conqueror in that insurrection at Exeter, in the second year of his
reign. This Ralph de Pomeroy had issue Joel, that married one of the
natural daughters of King Henry I. by Corbet’s daughter (mother also
by him of Reginald Fitz-Harry, Earl of Cornwall); the which Joel had
issue by her Henry and Josceline. Henry married de Villie’s daughter,
and by her had issue Sir Henry de Pomeray, lord of this place, and
Bury Pomeroy in Devon, who sided with John Earl of Morton and Cornwall
against Richard I. then beyond the seas; and afterwards gave to the
Knight Hospitallers of St. John the Baptist, the church of Maddarne in
Penwith.
One Sir Roger Pomeray of this tribe cousin and heir to Roger de
Vallorta, lord of the castle of Trematon, dead without issue male, did
by deed 12 Edward III. release to Prince Edward, then created Duke of
Cornwall, all his right, title, and interest in the said castle and
manor of Trematon; in consideration whereof King Edward III. granted
him and his heirs an annuity of 40_l._ per annum, to be paid out of
the Exchequer. The last gentleman of these Tregony Pomerays, temp.
Elizabeth, left issue one only daughter, married to Richard Penkivell,
of Resuna, Esq. in whom is terminated the name and estate of that
family, who gave for their arms, Or, a lion rampant Gules, within a
bordure engrailed Sable.
Mr. Penkivell, lord of this manor, borough, and leet, temp. Charles I.
having wasted his whole patrimony in this and other places, sold this
manor of Tregony Pomeroy to Hugh Boscawen, Esq. Sheriff of Cornwall 10
Charles I. from whom it passed by descent to his son Hugh Boscawen,
Esq. father of William Boscawen, Esq. who settled it as part of his
wife’s jointure, on the Lady Anne FitzGerald, daughter of the Right
Hon. Charles Earl of Kildare, who, over-living her husband, was
married to Francis Robartes, Esq. youngest son of the Right Hon. John
Earl of Radnor, who is now, in her right, as freehold for life, in
full possession thereof. The arms of Penkivell are, in a field Argent,
two chevrons and in chief a lion passant Gules.
King John by virtue of his manor of Tybester (vide CREED) granted the
liberty of fishing, or the royalty of the river Val, to one of the
Pomeroys, lord of the manor.
To remove an action at law depending in the court-leet of Tregony, the
writ of certiorari, or avedas ad curiam, was thus directed, as was
also the precept for members of parliament. Seneschallo et Ballivo
Henrici Pomeray, Manerii sui de Tregoni Pomeraye, in comitatu
Cornubiæ, salutem; again, ad curiam C. W. Arm. de Tregony in comitatu
Cornubiæ salutem. Who this C. W. Esq. set down in the Exchequer should
be, query? I take it to be Charles or Christopher Wolvedon, of Golden;
and this to be that manor set down in the Domesday Tax, by the name of
Tregny Medan aforesaid.
At Crego, that is a burrow, bank, or tumulus, in this parish, liveth
Charles Trevanion, Esq. barrister at law, that married ―――― Curthorp,
of London; his father ..., his grandfather Arundel, originally
descended from the Trevanions of Carhayes and Tregathin, who is that
great though unfortunate gentleman, who at his own proper cost and
charges, and for his own benefit, by virtue of an act of parliament,
19 Charles II. undertook to make the river Val navigable as far as
Crowe-hill, in St. Stephen’s; and though his first summer’s work
seemed to favour his design, bringing the salt water by two or three
sluices above Tregony Bridge, the place of its old flux and reflux,
yet by reason of the great and rapid confluence and washes of the Val
river, in the winter season, after the foundation of the walls of
those sluices being made upon mud or osier ground, where the sea was
driven back as aforesaid, were undermined, fell down, and were
comparatively driven away. However the good undertaker was not
discouraged at this misfortune, but re-edified the same the summer
following; and so on for many summers after with greater skill, cost,
and charges. But alas! still the lofty current of the river Val, in
winter season, was such a malicious and invincible enemy to this noble
project, that, as before, it continually undermined the walls of those
sluices for about the space of twenty years, so that the very worthy
gentlemen aforesaid, in order honestly to defray the charges of this
work, hath spent the greatest part of this fine estate, and given over
his undertaking as too difficult and unprofitable an enterprize.
At Carreth, in this parish, i. e. rock, grave, or tumulus, dwelleth
―――― Hearle, Gent, doctor or practitioner in physic, son of ――――
Hearle, Rector of St. Hearne, who by the honest practice of his
profession, and small fees, hath advanced himself to considerable
wealth and reputation in those parts. He married Nance, and hath issue
James Hearle, that married Daye, and Glynn; and Hearle, a student in
physic, that married the daughter and heir of Edmund Hals, doctor of
physic, by Curthop, of London, a younger brother of the Halses, of
Efford, in Devon, by whom he had a considerable estate.
The Right Honourable Hugh Boscawen, Esq. Privy Councillor to William
III. Lord and High Lord of this town, built a fair house or hospital
within the same for poor people, and endowed it with lands of
considerable value.