The Treffrys have been at Place, their ancient manor house at Fowey, for eight centuries. For much of that time they remained very much a local family in that part of Cornwall - Celtic country gentry, rooted to their acres. They had their share of moments of glory, as when Sir John Treffry served with the Black Prince at Crecy and on 26 August 1346 captured the Royal Banner of France and was dubbed Knight Banneret on the field of battle for his achievements and valour. One of his descendants, William Treffry, of Place, served as Master of the Ordnance under Sir Walter Raleigh at the time of the Armada; while Hugh Peter whose mother was a Treffry, was an early member of the Massachusetts Bay Company and a founder of Harvard who returned to England to become chaplain and adviser to Olive Cromwell, and, after the Restoration, was beheaded at Charing Cross.
Before the 19th century, the family started to spread. The Bere Barton branch, by 1834, had sent emigrant members to Columbia, in South America and to Canada. At about the same time, one who stayed in Cornwall became famous as an industrialist, Joseph Thomas (Austin) Treffry, the mining engineering and shipping genius, was was much involved in bringing the railway into Cornwall. By the end of that century there were Treffrys all over the world, where their descendants, throughout Canada, the USA, Australia and Columbia, are still united by some knowledge or awareness of their ancient Cornish roots.
Now, for all of them, and the the interest of many others not themselves Treffrys, the author has spent many years of patient research in record offices, offices, libraries and genealogical societies, throughout Britain and America, tracing lines of descent and branches also also 'collecting everything should could find on the Treffry family'. Her researches have been remarkably productive and the results are a compelling and well-referenced family history. From the first emergence of the name in the mists of Celtic Cornwall to the present world-wide distribution of Treffrys, she carries the reader through the generations and the enthusiasm. The book's appeal to Treffrys is obvious, but it will also interest West Country historians and family historians in general.
Contents:
List of Plates
List of Text Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Preface
Part 1: Early History to the 16th Century
1. Celtic Cornwall
2. Treffrys in King Arthur's Cornwall
3. History of the Treffry Family Through the 16th Century
4. Early Treffry Wills and Genealogical Charts
5. Hugh Peter(s), 1598-1660
Part 2: The Family of Thomas Treffry, eldest son of Matthew Treffry (from 1604)
6. Thomas Treffry Family of Rooke and Place (from 1604)
7. Joseph Thomas (Austin) Treffry
Part 3: 19th Century Descendants of Thomas Treffry
8. The Family of Edward John (Wilcocks) Treffry (1809-1880)
9. The Family of Charles Ebenezer Treffry (from 1842)
10. The Family of Edward and Anne Treffry (from 1869)
Part 4: The Family of William Treffry, second son of Mathew Treffry (from 1605)
11. The Family of William Treffry (from 1605)
12. The Family of Samuel Treffry of Bere Barton
13. The Family of Roger Treffry of Bere Barton (1746-1818)
14. The Family of John Treffry: Emigrants to Canada (1778-1849)
Appendix: Will of George Treffry, 1880
Selected Bibliography
Index
