Treverbyn, Cornwall Genealogy

HISTORY
Treverbyn Parish appeared in the Domesday Book as voke lands of an ancient manor. Walter Treverbyn was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1223; the property descended through generations of family, until Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exon and Earl of Devon, son of a Treverbyn heiress, forfeited his lands to the crown for treason against Henry VIII. Another Treverbyn heiress married into the Trevannion family, and that family retained their land holdings for more centuries, while much of Treverbyn Courtenay was sold to local families such as the Rashleighs, Sawles, and Carlyons under the Land-Tax Redemption Act. The Duchy, of course, retained its interest[s] in the land as well.

According to The Parochial History of Cornwall, ruins of the original Treverbyn manor house existed into the late 1600's, but by 1815 nothing was visible, and only the oldest inhabitants could remember the remains of a crumbled wall. The location of the church and graveyard was also lost in time.

As the soil of the parish was thinly spread over a granite base, farming was very difficult. However, tin and copper did exist, so many followed three or four occupations, tinning as well as farming and perhaps shop-keeping, etc.

After the discovery of the importance of china clay (a by-product of granite), Treverbyn changed immensely. The clay mines expanded, causing hamlets and villages to disappear, while "The Cornish Alps" - looming mountains of pure white clay residue - were raised. (These were also called 'clay tips'.) Other abodes changed names; Carne Rosemary became Bugle, while Greensplat became a hole.

Since truck system wages for paying clay miners were in use in many if not all of the mines, commerce did not thrive in the same way it did in the rest of the parish. It was argued that clay miners did not mine in the same way tinners did, so the laws against that system of payment did not apply - and since the wealth of the region was based on china clay mining, no one of influence opposed that view.

Treverbyn was considered part of St. Austell parish until 1848, when that parish was divided into 3. Records before that date appear under St. Austell; the St. Austell Genealogical and Historical Website (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.comm/~staustell) has transcriptions of manorial records as well as church registers. Be sure to check there for records prior to 1848.

St. Peter's Church of England was built in 1850; the parish registers commence from that date, and have been transcribed. They're available for free on the St. Austell Genealogical and Historical website, as well as the OPC Free Database (http://cornwall-opc-database.org). LDS has filmed the registers; they're available through the Family History Centres, and through the Cornwall Record Office for a small fee.

Trethurgy Methodist Chapel registers are also transcribed, and available as described above, as well as many Methodist circuits.

Burials have been made in the church graveyard, which contains 308 memorials, located near the Primary School, on Treverbyn Road, since its establishment. The Treverbyn Cemetery, located next to the Primary School, contains 1550 memorials, is of a more-current vintage, and remains open to this day.

There were many non-conformist chapels throughout the parish, including Methodist chapels at Rescorla, Stenalees, Molinnis, Greensplat, Trelowth, and Sticker. There was a Bible Christian chapel at Bugle, and another at Carthew. Many have been re-purposed or closed, and records have been lost. However, those that remain have been largely transcribed and put on the St. Austell website for free access.

REFERENCES AND RECOMMENDED READING
"CORNWALL and It's People", A.K. Hamilton-Jenkin, David & Charles, London, 1945 & 1988

"ST. AUSTELL: Church, Town, and Parish", A.L. Rowse, H.E. Warne, LTD, 1960

"ST. AUSTELL, A Cornish Parish" Canon Joseph Hammond,L.L.B., Skeffington & Son, London, 1897

"A CORNISH CHILDHOOD" A.L. ROWSE, Clarkson N. Potter, Inc/Crown Publishers Inc, New York. 1942 & 1979

"HISTORIC CORNWALL - St. Austell", Kate Newell, Historic Environmental Service, Cornwall County Council, 2004, at http://www.historic-cornwall.org.uk/csus/towns/staustell/staustell [If this address does not work, go to historic-cornwall.org.uk, and click on Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey, then "towns"; you can then enter "St. Austell" to see the reports and download a map of the area circa 1907]

"The Archaeology of the St. Austell China Clay Area" P. Herring and J. Smith, Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council, 1991