Just when I thought I had finished researching my Cornish family history, I found a book mentioning William Camborne alias Paynter of Deverell, Cornwall from Burke’s Family Records (Indexed) by Ashworth P. Burke, 1897; a database recording the genealogy of the junior houses of the British nobility. Burke explained that “details of family origins, surnames, events and locations are recorded for about 300 British cadet lines; some are accompanied by coats of arms.” Cadet being the terminology used for the younger sons of a noble family.

Burke’s Family Records illustration of the Paynter Coat of Arms

CARPE – DIEM – SIEZE THE DAY

The Paynter Coat of Arms were granted on 22 July 1569 to William of Camborne Paynter

In early May of 2021, a nasty chest cold laid me low and housebound for over two weeks. One may wonder how, during Covid19 awareness, did I come down with a cold, when everyone is supposed to be keeping germs at bay by isolating, after experiencing coughs and colds? With nothing else to do I turned to my laptop for company. For some reason I returned to Cornwall and the Tyack family, a branch that had intermarried with my Northey family from the tiny copper mining towns of Kea, Kenwyn and Chacewater. I noticed a great amount of research activity on the Tyack lines, which I had not pursued earlier.

Several generations back from my Great Great Grandfather William Northey (1815-1887) there were links to the Paynter family line, to William Northey’s Great great Grandmother Agnes Paynter, who is listed in Burke’s Family Records as the daughter of Francis Paynter (1639-1720) and Agnes Leane (1655-1748) and was baptised at Gwennap, Cornwall on 6 August, 1696.

I can now identify the direct line from my mother Lavinia Robson nee Fuller back to Agnes Paynter and the Tyack family of Gwennap.

Lavinia Fuller (1921-2016) married Reginald George Robson 10 Oct 1946, Sydney, Australia

Her mother

Lavinia Moar (1888-1983) married John Fuller, 28 Sep 1916, Wellington, New Zealand

Her mother

Lavinia Northey married George Moar, 24 December 1884, Lyttleton, New Zealand

Her father

William Northey (1815-1887) married Elizabeth Doddridge 23 Dec. 1836, Plymouth, Devon

His father

Josiah Northey (1787-1841) married Ann Tyack, 23 October 1806, Kea, Cornwall

His father

Stephen Tyack (1764-1825) married Amey Hockin, 26 June 1786, Gwennap, Cornwall

His father

John Tyack (1729-) married Elizabeth Harries, 30 January 1754, Kea, Cornwall

His father

John Tyack Jnr. (1684-) married Agnes Paynter/Painter, 18 August 1722, Gwennap, Cornwall

I spent several days combing through the Parish Record Books of Cornwall page by page, to find the original baptism, marriage and burial records, in an effort to identify many of the dates that Burke had so correctly listed.

Whilst I have spent many years working backward discovering various family branches generation by generation, Burke’s collections of  published books actually work from the other direction, identifying the oldest generations that he can, working downwards with a cleverly developed and unique shorthand style, of numbering and indentations, which, once mastered, is easy to follow. It was at this point, with the listing of Agnes Paynter on page 469, that my Northey/Tyack family history interlinked.

The concise method of Burke belies the huge amount of information he imparts to his readers. Further research shows that Ashworth P. Burke was actually the son of Sir Bernard Burke who authored Burke’s Peerage and Baronetcy and the Landed Gentry and A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry among other books, with his father John Burke Esq.

 

Burke’s Family Records, The Paynter family of Deverell, Cornwall pages 467-471

Prefacing his research Burke states, “This family has been settled in co. Cornwall from a remote period.” The Paynter family may have been quietly living in this part of England well before William the Conqueror arrived in 1066.

Burke’s Family Records, The Paynter Family page 468

Note in particular the marriage of Arthur Paynter of St Erth, (son of George of Camborne Paynter and his wife Ann Antron) and Jane Haweis and their third son William Paynter who married Jane Keigwin, “said to be the dau. of Richard Keigwin of Mousehole.”

Burke’s Family Records, The Paynter Family page 469

Note the third son of William Paynter and Jane Keigwin, Francis Paynter was baptised at St Erth 14 March 1639 and married Agnes Leanne at Gwennap 19 December 1681. Their daughter Agnes is listed as being baptised on 6 August 1696 at Gwennap.

Burke’s Family Records, The Paynter Family page 470

Burke’s Family Records, The Paynter Family page 471

The next few pages are family charts for my Great Great Grandfather William Northey of Kenwyn, Cornwall. I have written another chapter on The Northey Family of Kenwyn, Cornwall, taking his family back in many different lines. The ancestral lines of the Paynter family comes from William Northey’s maternal family, the Tyack family of Gwennap, Cornwall. Gwennap being the township where Francis and Agnes Paynter lived.

Nine Generation Pedigree Chart for William Northey of Chacewater, Kenwyn, Cornwall

William Northey married Elizabeth Doddridge of Devon on 23 Dec 1836 at Plymouth, Devon

His mother

Ann Tyack married Josiah Northey on 23 October 1804 at Kea, Cornwall

Her father

Stephen Tyack married Amey Hockin on 26 June 1786 at Gwennap, Cornwall

His father

John Tyack married Elizabeth Harries on 30 January 1754 at Kenwyn, Cornwall

His father

John Tyack Jnr. married Agnes Painter/Paynter on 18 August 1722 at Gwennap, Cornwall

The Pedigree chart for William Northey amazingly continues back for another four generations from Agnes Paynter:

Her father

Francis Paynter married Agnes Leane on 19 December 1681 in Gwenapp

His father

William Paynter married Jane Keigwin on 23 April 1632 at Paul

His father

Arthur Paynter married Jane Haweis in about 1610 at St Erth

His father

George Paynter married Ann Antron on 29 April 1565 at St Erth

Nine Generation Pedigree Chart for William Northey, continued

What is incredible about these charts for William Northey is how far I am able to take his ancestry lines back and realise that there is a continuous line of identification back to my 12^th Great Grandfather George Paynter (-1584).

It is incredulous that I have now had to completely reinterpret William Northey’s line and recognise that beyond my coal miners from Kenwyn, there were farmers and yeoman. I now proudly appreciate that my ancestors also came from the recognised echelons of minor English aristocracy and landed gentry.

Over generations, my lines gradually came down from younger daughters and younger sons, who did not inherit lands or money and thus their means and education were much reduced. The closing of the tin mines in Cornwall must have been a difficult time for many impoverished Cornish families in the late 1850’s. New opportunities suddenly opened and William Northey and his family didn’t hesitate to “seize the day” to migrate and settle in Lyttelton in New Zealand in the hope of making a better life in a new country.

Having dealt with the Northey and Tyack families in The Northey Family of Kenwyn, Cornwall, I will now take my Paynter family back, with the help of Burke’s Family Records and the amazing generosity of original records from Family Search, who freely provide the opportunity to search online through the Parish Books of Cornwall. Some of these books have been transcribed, but for many earlier books this has not yet been accomplished. I can understand why this is so, as many are damaged and faded and the early English handwriting is hard to read. If it were not for Burke and his incredible feat in notating baptisms, marriages and burials I do not think I would have had as much success. In some ways I felt like I was following in Burke’s fingerprints as I turned the Parish Books page by page, searching for just the one word Painter or Paynter on the page. The Scribes, Rectors and Vergers writing styles often left a lot to be desired, as they scribbled line after line, date after date, possibly late into the evening, confounding me by switching from baptisms to marriages or burials in no particular order. However, I should qualify this by saying there are wonderful and very clear pages in the Parish Records when the Clergy were very proud of their writing style and neat pages. Perhaps some Rectors had imbibed in a little too much of the parish wine, as smudges and spills of inky writing often slid unevenly across the pages? On top of that I had to deal with the Julian Calendar which, in the middle ages, had the new year being celebrated in March, due to the fact that there was no formula for calculating leap years. Over the years the new year gradually became later and later. It was not until 1752 that the Gregorian Calendar was adopted to bring the dates into order and achieve a new year every year on 1 January. Thus 11 days were dropped from the month of September in 1752. There must have been disappointment for the loss of birthdays, anniversaries and possibly even a Saint’s days.

The logical start for my Paynter history was to find the marriage and baptism for Agnes Paynter/Painter, so I headed straight for the Parish of Gwennap. My quest was to locate not only Agnes’ baptism but those of her siblings and Burke’s dates did not let me down.

Agnes Paynter/Painter (1697-) was the daughter of Francis Paynter (1639-1720) and Agnes Leone (1655-1748). Agnes married John Tyack Jnr. (1684-) and they had six children, Grace Tyack (1721-), Elizabeth Tyack (1724-), Matthew Tyack (1728-1807), John Tyack (1729-), Francis Tyack (1732-) and Thomas Tyack (1735-).

Marriage of John Tyack Jnr. and Agnes Painter 18 August 1722, Gwennap, Cornwall

Baptism of Agnes, daughter of Francis Painter, 6 April 1797, Gwennap, Cornwall

Marriage of Francis Paynter and Agnes Leone, 19 December 1681, Gwennap, Cornwall

Francis Paynter (1639-1720) was the son of William of Trelissick (1609-1669) and Jane Keigwin (1603-1640). Francis Paynter married Agnes Leone (1655-1748) and they had six children, John Paynter (1682-1684), Francis Paynter (1685-1750), Hercules Paynter (1686-1749), John Paynter (1689-1732), Joan Paynter (1694-1694) and Agnes Paynter (1697-)

“Baptism of Francis son of Wm. Painter, gent. 14 March 1639”, St Erth, Cornwall

In fact this is a good example of the Julian Calendar, whereby the real date of baptism for Francis Paynter/Painter should be 1640.

“Baptism of William son of William Paynter & his wife Jane 7 Dec 1637” St Erth, Cornwall

Interestingly Francis’ elder brother William Paynter is chronicled in the Dictionary of National Biography 1921-22, London, Eng., Oxford University Press, a collection of notable individuals after he was appointed Rector of Exeter College, Oxford University, 15 August 1690 until his death in 1716 and was also Vice Chancellor of Oxford in 1698 and 1699.

Dictionary of National Biography 1921-22, London, Eng., Oxford University Press

Dictionary of National Biography 1921-22, London, Eng., Oxford University Press

“William Paynter and Jane, his wife were married on the 23 April 1632” St Erth, Cornwall

William of Trelissick Paynter, (1609-1669) was the son of Arthur Paynter (1569-1630) and Jane Haweis (1587-1620). He and his wife Jane Keigwin (1603-1640) had five children, Arthur Paynter (1633-1678), Elizabeth Paynter (1635-), William Paynter (1637-1715), Francis Paynter (1639-1720) and John Paynter (1640-1721).

It was common for women to be unnamed in the Parish Records, however we are lucky that Burke stated “Jane was said to be the daughter of Richard Keigwin of Mousehole, Cornwall.”

How amazing to receive this new information; just one line from Burke’s book has opened up a new and incredible new family line to Jane’s father Richard Keigwin, whose family was well known and chronicled in the pages of both family genealogy and English history. This new connection to Mousehole in Cornwall, a tiny fishing village on very south eastern coast experienced the full might of Spain when four galleons unloaded an army of 400 warriors who then sacked the town and nearby villages and destroyed the church of Paul in 1595.

Baptism of Jane, daughter of Richard Keigwin, 12 July 1603 Paul, Cornwall

Baptism of William, son of Arthur Paynter March 1609, St Erth, Cornwall (blurred)

William of Trelissick Paynter was the son of Arthur Paynter and his wife Jane Haweis and whilst I couldn’t find a marriage for Arthur and Jane, they are believed to have married at St Erth in about 1610. I did look through the Parish book carefully only to discover the pages were unreadable, as they were badly water damaged, smudged and faded. William’s marriage to Jane was a second marriage after his first wife Grace Roscrigg died in 1605 leaving a Arthur with a young daughter Grace Paynter (1599-1620). Burke states that Grace was the daughter of John Roscrigg of Cleargarne, Cornwall.

Arthur Paynter Esq was reputed to be a Solicitor of Trelissick, St Erth, Cornwall. According to Burke he was listed on the Subsidy Roll of 1624. Subsidy Rolls are records of taxation in medieval England from the 12^th through to the 17^th centuries, they contain historical information and sizes of lands owned and usually descriptions, so they are a valuable source of historic information.

Arthur Paynter (1569-1630) was the son of George of Camborne Paynter (1544-1589) and Ann Antron (1547-1623). He married secondly Jane Haweis (1587-1620) had five sons, Arthur Paynter (1608-1608), William of Trelissick Paynter (1609-1669), George Paynter (1614-1649), Reginald Paynter (1616-1669) and John Paynter (1616-1680).

Records become more scarce the further back the trail leads, damaged Record Books are common, fading is a significant problem as well. I decided to seek proof elsewhere for the existence of Jane Paynter nee Haweis and resorted to trawling through burial records at St Erth, which are unreliable and offer very little identification. However most excitingly Jane Paynter’s burial record gave me wonderful information.

“Jane, wife of Arthur Paynter sepulter arat, vige Primo quartos of 19 January anno”, it is probably 1620, St Erth, Cornwall, England

It would seem that Jane’s remains are buried in the church of St Erth, a fitting place for the wife of Arthur Paynter, in the sepulchre, first quarter of the church. According to Burke, Jane Haweis was the daughter of Reginald Haweis of Redruth. I then went hunting for Arthur’s burial at St Erth’s church.

Burial of Arthur Paynter, Gent., 20 May 1630, 61 annum, St Erth

Arthur and Jane Paynter lived at Trelissick in the parish of St Erth, Cornwall, England. Their properties would have had beautiful views overlooking the Fal River. “It was the seat of the armigerous family of Camborne alias Paynter, who were also seated in Anton in Sithney and Deverall in Gwinear. The Paynters were reputed to be a wealthy landowning family that lived in the Trelissick area for centuries.” Wikipedia

Today Trelissick Manor is open to the public, after the house and gardens came under the management of the National Trust. After the Paynters sold and moved out of Trelissick Manor estate, it was rebuilt in the Classical Style in 1750 by Edmund Davey for John Lawrence.

Photo of Trelissick Manor, from the Collection of EvaK

George of Camborne Paynter (1544-1589) was the son of Rev. William of Camborne Paynter and Lady Eleanor Wilton (1520-1589), he married Ann Antron (1547-1623) on 29 April 1565 and they had nine children, William of Antron and Camborne Paynter (1566-1628), George Paynter (1567-1630), Arthur Paynter (1569-1630), John Paynter (1572-1587), Henry Paynter (1573-), Elizabeth Paynter (1576-), Jane Paynter (1578-) and Grace Paynter (1580-)

If George Paynter and Ann Antron did marry at St Erth, unfortunately the parish book is totally faded for the year 1565, the two preceding years are faint and yet still readable.

The last record from the Parish Record Book of St Erth I was able to capture for the Paynter family was the burial of George Paynter in 1589, when he was just 45 years of age.

Burial of George Paynter, January 1589, St Erth, also the Burial of John Paynter is listed on the same page, February 1589. I suspect the true year is 1590. John may have been George’s brother.

Paynter Family Tree was kindly shared by Zoe Cochrane, who runs the Paynter Family Tree on Wikitrees, it comes from a book The Visitations of the County of Cornwall

For readers who have connected with relativesmatter.com., I have placed many other parish records for the extended Paynter family on my ancestry.com Rundle family tree. These documents are all available to download at the press of a button. I only ask that you acknowledge my input into finding so many of these amazing Cornish Parish Records.

The Keigwin Family of Mousehole, Cornwall

Readers know how exciting it was for me to make the discovery about our ancestry link from the Tyack family of Gwenapp, Cornwall to the ancient and noble Paynter family of Camborne and Trelissick of Cornwall. No doubt they will also have read about the ancestry link of the Paynter family to the Keigwin family from the tiny coastal town of Mousehole, Cornwall and the Parish of Paul where Jane Keigwin and Francis Paynter were married on 23 April 1632 at Paul, Cornwall, the Parish Church of Mousehole, a document previously illustrated in this chapter.

Jenkyn Keigwin plaque on the Keigwin Arms Hostelry, Mousehole, kindly shared by gnomonic on Flickr

The plaque reads: “Squire Jenkyn Keigwin was killed here 23rd July 1595, defending this house against the Spaniards. Mousehole was burned but the house spared. It is now the oldest in the village built circa 14th Cent.”

As I mentioned earlier, the fame of the Keigwin family has long been connected to the only time in English history when the Spanish made a successful incursion onto British soil. It is my enormous honour that one of my ancestors was there that very morning when four Spanish galleons appeared out of the early morning mist and proceeded to land their armed foot soldiers onto the sandy beach below Mousehole. It is a fact that most of the townsfolk of Mousehole fled, however, it is also a fact that my direct ancestor, Jenkin Keigwin, along with a handful of others were left to defend the township, their church and their homes. Sadly his fate, defending his home, was to be shot and killed by one of 400 armed Spanish armoured soldiers who burnt several nearby townships and murdered those inhabitants who stayed behind to defend their homes.

Jenkin Keigwin (Abt. 1531-1595) was the son of John Keigwin (1500-1588) and his wife Katherine, he married Thomasine Rawe at Paul’s Church, Mousehole in 1555. They had three children, Martin Keigwin (1555-1632, Elizabeth Keigwin (1559-1604) and Richard Keigwin (1562-1636)

Paul Parish Register, this first page of the Register recognises the Spanish Incursion from 23 July 1595

“Jesu spes et salus mea. 1595. A register of the names of all those that were baptized, married and buried in the Parish Church of St Pawle, in the Countie of Cornwall, from the 23rd Daie julie, the year of our Lord God 1595, on the which Daie the Church, towre, bells, and all other things pertaining to the same, together with the houses and goods, was Burn’d and spoil’d by the Spaniards in the said parish, being Wensdaie the daie aforesaid, in the 37th year of the Reigne of our Sovereign Ladie Elizabeth, by the grace of God, of England, Fraunce, and Ireland, defender of the Faith. Per me Johannem Tremearne, vicarium Ejus.”

John Tremaine, Vicar of Paul 1595

Translation from the Paul Parish Record Book, with the kind permission of Al Richards.

http://www.yeosociety.com/familypages/yeohonewsketters/Goinheyyeojan.pdf

 

The first entry in the new Paul parish book records “Jenkin Keigwin of Mousehole being killed by the Spaniards was buried 24 of July” 1595

Keigwin Arms Hostelry, circa 1930, the oldest surviving building in Mousehole, Cornwall, shared on ancestry.com by rootie95011

Keigwin Family Tree, shared by CT Nash from ancestry.com

Keigwin Coat of Arms, armorial shield showing three white dogs

Keigwin of Mousehole, kindly uploaded to ancestry.com by Zoe Cochrane

Keigwin of Mousehole, kindly uploaded to ancestry.com by Zoe Cochrane

Keigwin of Mousehole, kindly uploaded to ancestry.com by Zoe Cochrane

Note the mention on this page for Jane, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Keigwin who married William Painter in 1632.

Keigwin of Mousehole, kindly uploaded to ancestry.com by Zoe Cochrane

Keigwin of Mousehole, kindly uploaded to ancestry.com by Zoe Cochrane

Burial of Thomasine Keigwin, widow, 1 October 1615, Paul, Cornwall

Richard Keigwin (1562-1636) was the son of Jenkin Keigwin (1531-1595) and Thomasine Rawe (1525-1616), he married Elizabeth (-1637) and they had eight children, Martin Keigwin (1595-1667), Elizabeth Keigwin (1597-1680), Tomsin Keigwin (1599-1599), John Keigwin (1600-1632), Philippa Keigwin (1601-), Jane Keigwin (1603-1640), Richard Keigwin (1605-1647) and Anne Keigwin (1608-1608).

Burial of Richard Keigwin, 23 April 1635, Paul, Cornwall

“Burial of Elizabeth, wife of Richard Keigwin,” 24 November 1637, Paul, Cornwall

Richard Keigwin’s will, England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1856

Richard Keigwin’s will mentions several times his home township of Mousehole and his sons Martin, John and Richard, his brother Martin and his son in law Nicholas Noy, thus confirming that without a doubt this is his very protracted will document.

Richard Keigwin’s will, England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1856

Richard Keigwin’s will, England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1856

Richard Keigwin’s will, England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1856

Richard Keigwin’s will, England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1856

Richard Keigwin’s will, England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1856

This is where my history of the Keigwin Family ends for now. I have collected many more baptism, marriages and burial records for the family than those illustrated in this family history chapter and I have also developed an extended family tree on my ancestry.com tree called The Rundle Family Tree. All records there I have shared and they can be downloaded freely – all I ask is that any records reproduced are acknowledged.

Virginia Rundle

16 May 2021

Acknowledgements:

During my research it was amazing to come across other Paynter and Keigwin family researchers and read their websites and blogs.

I would like to acknowledge Chris Newman’s website and Newman family tree, please see the link below. It was exciting to correspond with Chris and discover that the Paynter lines went back so many centuries ago to Cornwall, to the Paynter family from Camborne and Trelissick and the Paynter family of Boskenna.

http://www.newman-family-tree.net/index.html

I also found another wonderful blog written by Al Richards who descends from the Keigwin family, please see the link below to his website. He writes about the Spanish invasion of Mousehole, Cornwall in 1595, when our ancestor Jenkin Keigwin was killed whilst defending his home, which today, is the only building to survive from this period. His blog spurred me on, in the hope I could find the original record of Jenkin Keigwin’s burial in the Paul Parish Record Books. I also read about the plaque dedicated to Jenkin Keigwin outside the Keigwin Arms and that the building today is now a pub. In this quest to further understand my Keigwin family history I discovered so many other keen Keigwin researchers.

http://www.yeosociety.com/familypages/yeohonewsketters/Goinheyyeojan.pdf

 

Bibliography:

Burke’s Family Records, Ashworth Burke

FamilySearch.org

Ancestry.com

Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1856, England & Wales

Dictionary of National Biography 1921-22, London, Eng., Oxford University Press

Photo of Trelissick Manor, from the Collection of EvaK

Paynter Family Tree was kindly shared by Zoe Cochrane, who runs the Paynter Family Tree on Wikitrees, taken from the book, The Visitations of the County of Cornwall

Jenkyn Keigwin plaque on the Keigwin Arms Hostelry, Mousehole, kindly shared by gnomonic on Flickr

Keigwin of Mousehole, kindly uploaded to ancestry.com by Zoe Cochrane

Keigwin Family Tree, shared by CT Nash from ancestry.com

Keigwin Arms Hostelry, circa 1930, the oldest surviving building in Mousehole, Cornwall, shared on ancestry.com by rootie95011

Wikipedia