Lanyon Alms Houses
The Lanyon Alms houses were named after their benefactor John Lanyon, ‘Gentleman of the Parish of St James Westmeinster’, who died in 1727 in St James, London. In this paper I will look at the details of the will which established the charity. I will then go on to look at what is known about John Lanyon, his links to the parish of Kea, clues as to why he fled Cornwall and where his wealth came from. It is a far more intriguing story than I ever imagined.
Lanyon Alms Houses, Halvarras Rd, Playing Place, Kea
The Lanyon Will and Trust
In 1726, perhaps increasingly aware of his own mortality, John Lanyon made his will, and it was an extremely long will. The modern transcription runs to eleven pages and at the end of the original will he declared that his ‘Will and Testament [is] contained in two skins and a halfe of Parchment’ and he stated that he has ‘sett my hand and Seal as followeth Vizt my hand at or near the top of every one of the Same Skins and my hand and Seal at the bottom in usual forme’.
At the time he wrote his will he stated that his wife Sarah had pre-deceased him, and as no children were mentioned it would seem they had none or none who survived. Much of the will consisted of specifying which of many relatives would inherit land or money. He owned property in Mylor in Cornwall; Carvinack which is near to Enys, and Polglaze which has not been traced but lies in Mylor parish. He also owned property in Yorkshire. Several properties were named in London in both Glasshouse Street and Swallow Street, which lie west and east of the more modern Regent Street. He was one of three partners who owned ‘the Pale Beer Brewhouse in Brewers Street in the Said Parish of St James’.
The will suggests John Lanyon was a kind and generous man. He left his ‘Clerk and Brewer…five pounds apiece’ and ‘I give unto the other Servants who Shall belong to the Said Brewhouse the sum of five pounds to be equally divided between them’. He gave instructions that all his servants ‘who Shall be living with me at the time of my death and have lived with me one year’ be given a year’s wages. He further instructed his executors to pay twenty pounds to the ministers of five different parishes – St James and Twickenham in London, Breamore in Southampton, St Mary’s in Warwick and St Michael Penkivel in Cornwall.
He detailed that ‘my body shall be put into a Wooden Coffon and that the same Coffon shall be covered with Lead and then put into another Wood Coffin to be decently covered with black Cloath’. Various relatives, friends and all his servants had a generous allowance ‘for Mourning’, which would allow them to buy suitable mourning wear to attend his funeral.
The most detailed part of his will dealt with the endowment of ‘a Convenient Almshouse to be called Lanyons Almshouse’ in the ‘Parish of Kea (where I was born)’. Lanyon’s will suggests that he had considerable knowledge of Kea and those who lived in Kea. In effect, he established a trust of whom the trustees, later referred to as ‘Substantial Inhabitants of the Parish of Kea’, were Reverend William Mitchell, ‘the Minister of the Parish of Kea’, together with four of the most eminent men of the parish – ‘Reginald Hawes of Callow Esquire’ (Reginald Haweis of Killiow), ‘Hugh Bawden of Guddern Esquire’ (Goodern), together with James Symons and John Giddy the younger, both described as ‘Gentlemen’ (James Symons lived at Lower Lanner and John Giddy at Higher Trelease). He left two sums of money, two hundred pounds and eight hundred pounds. Two hundred pounds was to be used to purchase ‘a piece of wast Ground or other Ground of an Estate of Inheritance in Fee simple within the said Parish of Kea and as near as Conveniently may be to the Church of the Same Parish and also shall do and lay out and dispose of the residue of the said sume of two hundred pounds in Erecting building and Finishing upon such piece of Ground to be purchased as aforesaid a Convenient Almshouse to be called Lanyons Almshouse and to be inhabited and dwelt in from time to time for ever by Such poor people as for Such purposes as hereinafter mentioned’. The will went on to specify who the occupants might be: ‘Such numbers of decayed Inhabitants or poor people of the Said Parish of Kea being of the Communion of the Church of England as the Same house will Conveniently Contain and Shall and may at their pleasure remove or displace from the Said Almshouse any Such dweller or Occupier who shall be Turbulent or abusive to any other or others of them who shall neglect Attending at the Said Parish Church of Kea on any Sunday or Holyday during Such times as the Minister thereof for the time being or any other Minister for him Shall be performing his office or function there unless prevented by Sickness Lameness or other reasonable Impediment’.
Once the alms houses had been built the larger sum of eight hundred pounds would be used to purchase land which would then provide an income for the trustees to maintain the alms houses and care for the occupants. The ‘Trustees Shall and doe from time to time and at all times forever lay out and dispose of Soe much of the last before mentioned Rents Issue and Profitts in Repairing and Supporting Such Almshouse as aforesaid and in Satisfying the charges of making Writings and other Contingent Charges and Expenses in Relation to the Said Almshouse and Lands Tenements and Hereditaments to be purchased as aforesaid as Shall be necessary for Such purposes and Shall and doe lay out and dispose of the Residue of the Same Rents Issues and profitts in buying Such Woolen Cloaths and other Cloaths and Necessary as the Trustees for the time being of the Said Almshouse to be built as aforesaid shall think most proper for the wearing and use of such dwellers and in and occupiers of the Same Almshouse or aforesaid.’ Until the eight hundred pounds was used to buy property, the Trustees were given detailed guidance as to how it might be invested. The will also contained much detail concerning the succession of the Trust as the original named Trustees died and how their places would be filled by future ‘Substantial Inhabitants’ of Kea.
In 1727 John Lanyon made a Codicil to his original will. Clearly Reginald Haweis of Killiow had expressed some doubts about his willingness to serve as a Trustee, so he appointed ‘Alexander Allen of the Parish of Kea, Gentleman’ (of Saveock) to stand in his place should Haweis refuse to act as a Trustee. Further ‘I have Since the making of my Said Will Purchased at Pennyliewy [Penelewey] in the said Parish of Kea and paid the purchase money for the Same and the Said Almshouse is near built and I hope it will be finished before I dye’. Lanyon was also aware of a more difficult economic climate and was concerned that the then prevalent interest rate would be too low to provide the necessary funds to maintain the alms houses and inhabitants. The Codicil stated ‘Considering that the Interest of money is Low and may be reduced Lower than five pounds per Centum per Annum and in that case the Interest of Eight hundred pounds given for the Support of the Said Almshouse and providing Cloaths and Necessaries for the poor people that Shall be placed from time to time to dwell therein as my Will directs will not nor will the yearly Rent and Income of so much Land as the said Eight hundred pounds will purchase be sufficient (I fear) to support the Almshouse and provide Cloaths and Necessaries for the poor people that Shall from time to time be placed to dwell in the Said Almshouse I therefore give unto the Trustees named in my Said Will and in this Codicill the whole and full Sume of one thousand pounds for the Support of the Said Almshouse and providing Cloaths and Necessaries for the said poor people’. As he had already purchased the land and the Almshouse was ‘near built’, he sought to overcome the economic problems outlined by adding the two hundred pounds, already specified for buying the land and maintaining the alms house, to the eight hundred pounds and so provided a sum of a thousand pounds for the future funding of the charity.
In February 1749 the Trustees purchased West Trethellan Farm near Redruth for £615, and in the accounts for 1939 this still provided a rental income of £60 per annum.
The nature of the Lanyon Almshouses has been reflected in its Listing as a building of historic importance and is one of the few buildings in Kea parish which has a Grade II starred status. The Listing description states ‘It is thought that the ground floor was for men and the first floor for women. Now divided into 4 units, each with ground and first floor rooms. Despite some conversion, this is a very intact building retaining its essentially simple but functional design’.
Who was John Lanyon?
John Lanyon became a wealthy man, but his path to wealth was cloaked in mystery and suspicion. A few documents survive but they confuse rather than clarify. His path to wealth was further complicated by his links with Sir James Tillie, one of the most controversial characters from this period of Cornish history.
Lanyon stated in his will that he was born in Kea. In fact, he was born in the parish of St Michael Penkivel on 1st May 1652, but as the entry in the parish register states he was baptised in Kea.
In the register his surname was recorded as Lanine, a version of Lanyon which was in regular use. His father was also called John Lanyon or Lanine and was recorded in the Protestation Return for St Michael Penkivel of 2nd March 1641. He was illiterate and made his sign on the return. (Courtesy UK Parliament Parliamentary Archives HL/PO/JO/10/1/80/78)
John Lanyon served as church warden at St Michael Penkivel as on 2nd October 1659 the parishioners collected £2 8 1 for the town of Southwold which had suffered a devastating fire, and John Lanyon is recorded as one of two churchwardens. (Source LDS Film Number 1596056) He was also recorded in the Hearth Tax Return of 1664 and had a single hearth. (Source https://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/extra-searches/hearth-tax )
In 1838 Davies Gilbert published his magisterial The Parochial History of Cornwall. Davies Gilbert knew Kea very well for his family name, before he changed it upon his marriage to an heiress, was Giddy and the Giddy family had farmed Trelease in Kea since at least 1594. His father, Rev Edward Giddy, had bought Trelease from the Arundell family when they sold it in the 1780s. Gilbert in his description of Kea mentioned with great pride his ownership of Trelease ‘On the banks of the river, directly opposite to Tregothnan, the magnificent seat of Lord Falmouth, is a farm called Trelease, belonging to the Editor; for beauty of natural situation and for command of prospect, scarcely inferior to Tregothnan itself.’ His son John Davies Gilbert went on to buy the Trelissick Estate in 1844.
Davies Gilbert wrote about the Lanyons, but it was in the entry for Feock rather than Kea or St Michael Penkivel. Why he associated the Lanyons with Feock is not known. He wrote ‘Mr. John Lanyon, of this parish, a sea sand-barge daily labourer, had a son named John Lanyon, who having had his education under Hugh Boscawen, Gent. Master of Arts, who kept a school at St. Michael Penkivell Church, became afterwards a steward to Trefusis, St. Aubyn, Coryton, and lastly came into the service of Brook Lord Chandos, and having by these services accumulated considerable riches, he gave lands, and built and endowed an almshouse for poor people.’ (The Parochial History of Cornwall, Davies Gilbert, London 1838)
This is the only source for both his education and his work as a steward both for the Trefusis family and the St Aubyn’s. His education at a small school run by the Boscawen family seems quite plausible as many large landowning families ran such schools on their home estate. The Boscawens lived at Tregothnan and owned all the land in the parish, and probably held the churchwarden in high regard.
John Lanyon’s involvement with Kea and with the Coryton family was much more complicated. Only a few sources document his involvement in Kea. In 1683 John Lanyon and Richard Symons agreed a two-year lease with the Coryton estate to coppice an oak wood both for the bark, used in the tanning industry, and to produce charcoal, used as a fuel especially for tin smelting. Richard Symons leased Lower Lanner farm from the Coryton estate, but he was much more than a tenant farmer, he was a clothier and both Lanyon and Symons were described on the lease as ‘gentlemen of Kea’ (Source Kresen Kernow CY/378). In a document titled Transcription of Manorial Records 1690 from LDS film no. 1472003 by Di Gibbs it states ‘John Lanyon holdeth one Tenemt worth £5 yearly and payeth for the Same it being wood and neere Truro Kea wood’. (Source https://www.opc-cornwall.org/Par_new/e_g/other/landsegaye_manor_1690.pdf).
On this extract from the Coryton Estate map (Courtesy of Kresen Kernow CY/6673 Map of the Manor of Landy Gay c.1770) a large formal garden was shown together with a house [shown in red by the riverbank on the right]. The origins of this house then called Woodberry, but later Woodbury, and its fine garden are obscure but in a list of conventionary rents due for Ladyday 1795 there was reference to ‘Lanyons or Woodbury’ (Source Kresen Kernow CY/4905) and this description was still in use in 1803 and 1807. This raises the question whether John Lanyon had a hand in building Woodbury?
In his biography of James Tillie (Sir James Tillie His Life, Houses and Eccentric Burial Pasticcio 2016) Stephen Tyrrell commented ‘James Tillie is first referred to as ‘Steward’ to Sir John Coryton as early as 1673, and continued to act for him throughout that decade, a job that covered the management of the estate and the collection of rents’. He argued that by 1683 Tillie, by then described as a ‘gentlemen’, was acting as a principal in transactions with Sir John Coryton and his brother William, and he even granted mortgages to the Coryton brothers. ‘This suggests that James Tillie was no longer acting as the steward…and that someone else had taken over the day to day running of affairs for Sir John, including the collection of rents and moneys. We know that in 1689, John Lanyon was the steward.’ This was shown when in April 1689 John Lanyon witnessed a deed (Kresen Kernow CY/1187).
The Coryton family was originally based in east Cornwall and the family seat was West Newton Ferrers house in St Mellion parish, and just south of Callington. The Coryton family had married into the Ferrers family and so gained the house which dated back to the Domesday period. In the early 17th century, though the bulk of the Coryton estate still lay in east Cornwall, the Corytons had bought much of the land which the Crown had confiscated from the Catholic recusant, Francis Tregian of Golden manor near Probus. This land included the Manor of Landegay in Kea. Towards the end of the 18th century the Coryton family faced a series of crises in large part brought about because of the actions of the estate steward James Tillie.
Tillie remains a deeply controversial character and the very bad reputation he has carried with him into the modern period is largely due to the writings of Willam Hals (1655-1737), a local historian who planned to write a parochial history of Cornwall (‘Compleat History of Cornwall’) but died before it could be published. Hals argued that Tillie was the son of a labourer from St Keverne, obtained a place as a servant or horseman to Sir John Coryton; through the Corytons he became a student of law, became an attorney and steward for the Coryton estate. Although this version of Tillie’s history is untrue it has been repeated by most later histories. Tillie’s family came from a family of small farmers in Wiltshire who also had connections to merchants in Bristol, but not Cornwall. Unusually, given this background, he was able to gain admission to the Middle Temple in London where he studied law. It seems that it was via the Middle Temple that he first became acquainted with the Coryton family. He also became friendly with Sir Christopher Vane, a member of an old and distinguished landowning family with estates in Kent and Durham and married his sister Margaret. Little is known of the marriage except that it was brief due to her early death. As a dowry Tillie gained lands in the north of England, he also obtained much legal work through the Vane family and managed the Vane estates in the north of England. Yet by 1702 a legal case showed he had fallen out with Vane over the management of a lead mine.
Tillie may have got to know the Coryton family through a friendship with the younger John Coryton, he was also a student at the Temple and a year younger than Tillie. Certainly by 1669, then aged 22, he worked for the Corytons and was involved in drawing up an inventory of the Coryton property. By 1672 he was signing documents on behalf of Sir John Coryton and in 1673 he was admitted to the Middle Temple and was then able to act as a lawyer. On the death of Sir John Coryton in 1680 he continued to work for his son, the second Sir John Coryton (1648-1690) and for his brother William. Tyrrell argues that the second Sir John ‘was in financial difficulty for much of the last two decades of his life… he was mortgaging and selling property…Tillie was advancing him money on the security of property…this position cannot have been eased when he stated the rebuilding of the great house at Newton Ferrers, some five years before his death’ in 1690 aged 42. He left a widow, Lady Elizabeth Coryton, and two young daughters. Within two years Tillie had married Lady Elizabeth Coryton.
This portrait is believed to be of Sir John Coryton (1648-1690) (Courtesy of Pentillie Castle)
It is likely that Sir John Coryton had already begun to fall out with Tillie as in a lease for property in the parish of Quethiock in May 1673 one of the Lives attached to the lease was that of James Tillie who was described as a`steward and meniall servant’ (KK CY/2908).
By 1689 Sir John Coryton had fallen out very badly with Tillie, and documents suggest that John Lanyon had some involvement in this. Kresen Kernow holds a document (KK CY/7197) in which Sir John Coryton sought counsel’s opinion from a ‘J Tremayne’, almost certainly the eminent lawyer Sir John Tremayne who was Cornish, became the MP for Tregony and succeeded his father to the ownership of the Heligan estate.
Sir James Tillie (c.1647-1713) (Creative Commons License)
The story which has been told over many years is that Tillie stole from Sir John Coryton, that he may well have poisoned him, and he then made off with his wife. This is based on the writings of Hals ‘after the death of his then master, Sir John Coryton the younger, not without suspicion of being poisoned, he soon married one, with whom, common fame said he was too familiar before, so that he became possessed of her goods and chattels, and a great jointure’. Yet Stephen Tyrrell has recently argued ‘Since much else of what Hals wrote about Sir James Tillie was exaggerated and incorrect, this sort of comment has to be taken with a pinch of salt.’
The Kresen Kernow summary of the letters from Sir John reads: ‘Legal opinion given in response to questions by Sir John Coryton, whose wife Elizabeth had been carried off by Sir James Tillie and whose servant John Lanyon had defrauded him. Speaks of secret letters from John Lanyon to Sir James Tillie threatening to murder John Coryton and his lady. Lady Coryton left her husband and was carried away. John Lanyon fled. In Lanyon’s study Sir John found deeds and goods belonging to Sir John hidden in boxes and trunks under the bed. He also discovered that J Lanyon had been endeavouring to get hold secretly of rents and properties held by Sir John Coryton’s tenants by sending letters and threatening the tenants with lawsuits.
Sir John advised to prefer information to a suit for libel. He could bring an action against the men for taking and carrying his wife away, but he is liable to allow Elizabeth Coryton reasonable maintenance until a divorce. Sir John to keep papers found in his study. Action of trespass lay against Lanyon for stolen goods found in the study. Advised to call Lanyon to account in Chancery for sums due from Sir John Coryton’s estates.’
One aspect of the Kresen Kernow interpretation is certainly mistaken, namely that Lanyon or Tillie threatened to murder Coryton and his wife. The paragraph reads ‘In the letter directed to Sir James Tillie, Lanyon doth question Sir John Coryton that he together with others had endeavoured to murder his Lady and himself’. The ‘himself’ being referred to is either Lanyon or Tillie, so Coryton may be a perpetrator but not a victim.
The document, which is not easy to read, has been re-interpreted by Stephen Tyrrell in his recent biography of Sir James Tillie. He wrote ‘The complaint starts by summarising letters which had been found in Lanyon the Steward’s room and includes an allegation, which misunderstood, has been central to the reputation of Sir James Tillie. Sir John refers to a letter from John Lanyon the Steward to Sir James Tillie, in which Lanyon alleges that Sir John Coryton had tried to murder both his wife and ‘himself’, John Lanyon.’ Tyrrell argues that this was not a correct reading of the grammar, and as Coryton was threatening to sue Lanyon for libel he could hardly have been plotting to murder him.
Yet even Tyrrell goes on to argue in an understated way ‘However, it does suggest that John Lanyon must have been acting in an unusual way, since, as the complaint goes on, it is clear that, with the aid of helpers, his wife Elizabeth had fled from the house’. In his letter seeking advice from Tremayne, Coryton goes on to say that after ‘Lanyon being thus fled Sir John seized his study and tooke into his possession the Deeds and writings therein most of the belonging to himself’ and that Sir John ‘found lodged in his study and Chamber several of his goods to a Considerable value pact upp in Boxes and Trunckes and hidd under his bedd and other private places, and since gone out of Sir John’s service hath endeavored by letters and threatening law suites and by other ways and means to get the Rents of the tenants then due into his hands unknown to Sir John.’ Although Tyrrell points out that it would not be unusual for a Steward to keep documents in his office, the key point is that Lanyon had fled.
Coryton also wrote that ‘he may proceed against Lanyon to call him to Account for the many greate summes received for him from his rents and others hee havinge not presented any Accounts these Several yeeres’.
Coryton’s allegations, and the fact that Lanyon had fled, do present a damning verdict on Lanyon’s honesty but perhaps Lanyon was not entirely to blame? Coryton also wrote ‘The Lady hath some tymes last past drove the trade of A maulster in Sir John’s house. And Lanyon as then his servant ordered his corne to be converted to that use & bought in other corne & from tyme to tyme sold it as shee pleased’. Coryton asked Tremayne who owned the malt left in the house, and who had claim to the malt already sold. These questions raise several issues. Was Lanyon acting on Lady Elizabeth Coryton’s instructions on this and other matters? How good were relations between the Corytons if Sir John had not even realised his house was being used as a brewery? (The Corytons owned more than one manor house so Sir John may already have been living separately from his wife.).
( Source: KY/7197 Courtesy of Kresen Kernow )
Whatever was the truth behind these allegations, Sir John died in 1690 and in 1692 Lady Elizabeth Coryton married James Tillie.
James Tillie had already attracted controversy in January 1686/7 when he purchased a title, that of Knight bachelor, from James II who was short of money and needed allies as he was deeply unpopular – being overthrown in 1689. The purchase of titles was not unusual, but Tillie had made false claims about his background and his right to bear arms. Heralds were ordered to investigate, and it was reported that action was taken against his false claim. With the death of Sir John and his marriage to Lady Elizabeth, who also owned a large estate in her own right, he now controlled the Coryton estate and wanted a new house to match his status. In 1698 he began the construction of Pentillie Castle on a spur of land overlooking one of the magnificent bends of the river Tamar. He also commissioned a lead statue of himself to place outside the house, and notoriously he built a mausoleum where upon his death in 1713 he was interred sitting in a chair looking out over his estate. While Sir James Tillie had no children, his great grandniece eventually married a descendant of Sir John Coryton, bringing the land back into the Coryton family.
John Lanyon’s exact role in the Coryton / Tillie dispute remains unclear but it seems he fled from Cornwall to London with whatever wealth he had acquired by whatever means. He had amassed a considerable amount of property in Cornwall, in Yorkshire and particularly in London where he also became part owner of a brewery.
In 1727 John Lanyon wrote a codicil to his will, and among other things it reflected that his nephew William Symons, one of the main beneficiaries of his will, had married a Mrs Elizabeth Tryon. The codicil stated that ‘Since the making my Said Will being marryed to one Mrs Elizabeth Tryon with whom he had a portion of two thousand pounds or is Justly Instituted to the Said Sume of two thousand pounds and to Some further Small Sums of money on Consideration of which Said Sume of two thousand pounds and farther portion and as a provision for my Said Nephew and his Wife and Family I did before Such Marriage Transferr to Charles Tryon and Thomas Mowsham Esquires The Trust for my Said Nephew his Wife and Children two Thousand pounds principal money in South Sea Annuities (which Said Annuity is would at the time of the Transferr have Sold for one Hundred and Seven pounds per Centum) but I took none of my Said Nephews Wifes fortune having giving the whole for the Support of him and his Wife and Family I also Furnished them a house in Town at my own Charge and gave him and her in money and things of Value above two hundred pounds over and besides the two Thousand pounds Annuities and I give my Said Nephew more one hundred pounds a year payable out of my Share of the yearly profitt of my Stock of one thousand five hundred pounds in the Pale Beer Brewhouse in Brewers Street’.
Why does Lanyon stress that ‘I took none of my Said Nephews Wifes fortune’? Might it infer that the reputation he had gained for underhand dealing whilst working with the Coryton estate in Cornwall had followed him to London? Perhaps he had helped himself to parts of previous fortunes? In 1711 the South Sea Company had been launched as a public-private partnership to reduce government debt, and it was granted a monopoly to supply African slaves to the islands in the “South Seas” and South America, but as Britain was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession there was never any chance that Britain could supply slaves to South America which was almost entirely controlled by Spain and Portugal. The company never made a significant profit, but the value of its shares rose greatly before collapsing in 1720 when the notorious “South Sea Bubble” burst, many investors were ruined, and the national economy faltered. The South Sea Bubble was associated with much “insider trading” and many people acted unscrupulously. Was John Lanyon one of these?
Two of the main personal beneficiaries of the will were his ‘loving Brother in Law Jonah Symons of Mylor’ and the latter’s son William, who is mentioned above. Clearly John Lanyon had a close and enduring relationship with the Symons, or Simmons, family. In 1683 he had formed a partnership, mentioned above, with Richard Symons to coppice wood. Richard had three sons who can be traced, and one of them was Jonas Symons who was born in Kea in 1665. A gravestone in Mylor churchyard reads ‘Beneath this stone resteth the body of Jonas [sic] Symons late of Polglase in this Parish who departed this life the 17th day of February Anno Domini 1745 aged 80 years’ – which means he was born in 1665 and was the son of Richard, the clothier. In a list of Indentured Apprentices for April 1729 Jonas is also listed as clothier – like father like son. In setting up the Almshouse trust, John Lanyon appointed various trustees including James Symons, the son of Richard baptised in Kea in 1661 and buried in Kea in 1734. He was also described as a ‘yeoman’, also farmed Lower Lanner, and may have been a clothier or merchant. Kresen Kernow holds some papers relating to the Lanyon alms houses including a transcription of the parts of the will relating to the trust together with a later Memorandum, which mainly deals with the replacement of the trustees due to death. By 1749 Christopher Symons, a son of James, has become a trustee.
The will referred to ‘my late Wife Sarah’ but no record of her or their marriage can be found. Yet Jonah/Jonas Symons was referred to as his brother-in-law, and this together with the close relations to the Symons family may suggest that Sarah was also a member of that family.
When he made his will John Lanyon left property in various parts of the country to relatives and friends, but no property is mentioned in Kea. Yet he clearly had a good knowledge of what was going on in Kea as can be seen in the names of the ‘Substantial Inhabitants of the Parish of Kea’ whom he appointed as Trustees. But why did Reginald Haweis express doubts about acting as a Trustee? Was there a conflict of commercial interests, or did he have doubts about Lanyon’s integrity?
Lanyon’s will in which he set aside a large sum for the poor of Kea, left money to five clergymen and money to his servants suggests he was a good and generous man. Though there is still much that is uncertain about his life and how he gained his wealth, one is still left with the suspicion that he may have been trying to offset his past deeds. Yet many poor people would be indebted to him for saving them from destitution. The Lanyon Alms houses live on as a tribute to his generosity, and a road in Playing Place is named after him, for in death he perhaps made up for the sins of his early life.
The Almoners
The original internal design of the Alms houses is unclear, as is the number of intended inhabitants. The Listing description states ‘It is thought that the ground floor was for men and the first floor for women. Now divided into 4 units, each with ground and first floor rooms.’
No information survives about the occupants, or almoners, before the Census of 1841. In that Census nine people were listed as living there, including one married couple. The inhabitants were Susan Caidele 50, Mary Treganowan 80, Elizabeth Mackenna 65, Elizabeth Scoble 15, Mary Skewes 70, Honor Lavin 75, Matthew Stevens 80 and his wife Jane 85, and Mary Kestle 60. This was the largest number of almoners recorded. No other information is given about them, except they were all born in Cornwall, but one wonders why a 15 year old girl was an almoner. The Census suggested there were only four ‘houses’. By 1851 the almoners had dropped to five: Elizabeth Mackenna 79 (ages seem vague and often increase by more than ten years), Mary Kestle 67, Mary Chygwidden 70, Susan Caidele 54, Mary Ann Visick 61. Mackenna, Chygwidden and Visick were widows but Kestle and Caidee had not married, and this mix of widows and spinsters continued. Only Chygwidden and Kestle were born in Kea but all had been born in Cornwall. In 1851 it inferred there were five ‘houses’, but it may have meant ‘households’. In 1861 Mary Chygwidden was no longer listed but the other almoners remained there.
Many changes had taken place by 1871, and more information was provided about the almoners. Mary Ann Prior, 63, was a charwoman who had been born in Gerrans. Isabelle Bray, 78, was a widow born in Lancashire. Elizabeth Gunn, 48, was a widow and was there with two children, Elizabeth Jane Gunn, 15, and William John Gunn, 13, a farm labourer. In 1871 only three ‘houses’ were occupied and perhaps the presence of a young family suggests that either demand was low or few were suitable. John and Emma Gunn lived at Coombe Cottage in Coombe and in 1854 their son William, born in 1831, had married Elizabeth Prior, born in 1831, who was a servant. She came from a family of watermen who lived at Roundwood in Feock. William died in 1859 leaving Jane a widow with two children, Elizabeth Jane born in 1855, and William John born in 1858. At first the children lived with their Prior grandparents at Roundwood whilst their mother worked as a nurse in Perranarworthal, but by 1871 the family had been reunited and lived in the alms houses. Elizabeth died in 1899, aged 68, still at Lanyon’s Alms Houses.
In 1881 Isabelle Bray remained, aged 88, as did Elizabeth Gunn, aged 50, and her daughter Emma aged 25 but still unmarried. They had been joined by Jane Knowles, 63, a nurse, and Mary Ann Prior, 79, a widow. In 1891 Elizabeth Gunn remained, 59, as did Jane Knowles, 74. They had been joined by Elizabeth Ferrett, 66, unmarried and a retired housekeeper, also by Charlotte Woolcock, 63, unmarried and who still worked as a housekeeper. For the first time information is given about the number of rooms occupied: Jane Knowles and Elizabeth Gunn occupied two rooms whilst the remaining two had three rooms. By 1901 Charlotte Woolcock and Elizabeth Ferrett were the only occupants. The Census information is unclear, but Ferrett may have been blind. In 1911 only Charlotte Woolcock lived there, aged 83. On the Census form she made her mark, an indication she was illiterate.
Nigel Baker October 2024
I am indebted to Gill Lanyon for much information about John Lanyon.
The Coryton and Tillie families, and Pentillie Castle, are well covered in Stephen Tyrell’s Sir James Tillie His Life, Houses and Eccentric Burial Pasticcio 2016.
Pentillie Castle and its gardens are regularly open to the public. Much information is available on the Internet about Sir James Tillie’s mausoleum at Pentillie.