Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 3rd Baronet (24 March 1650 – 19 July 1721) was an English

Bishop of Bristol A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

, Bishop of Exeter and Bishop of Winchester. Trelawny is best known for his role in the events leading up to the Glorious Revolution which are sometimes believed to be referenced in the Cornish anthem "

The Song of the Western Men "The Song of the Western Men", also known as "Trelawny", is a Cornish patriotic song, composed by Louisa T. Clare for lyrics by Robert Stephen Hawker. The poem was first published anonymously in ''The Royal Devonport Telegraph and Plymouth Ch ...

Life

He was born at Trelawne in the parish of

Pelynt Pelynt ( kw, Pluwnennys, Pluwnonna) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth and four miles (6.5 km) west-northwest of Looe. Pelynt had a population of around 1,124 ...

, Cornwall, the eldest surviving son of Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 2nd Baronet and Mary Seymour, daughter of Sir Edward Seymour, 2nd Baronet. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and then went to Christ Church, Oxford at the start of the

Michaelmas term Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic year in a number of English-speaking universities and schools in the northern hemisphere, especially in the United Kingdom. Michaelmas term derives its name from the Feast of St Micha ...

of 1668 where he distinguished himself as a scholar. A staunch royalist, he was ordained in 1673 and became a beneficed clergyman. He was appointed rector of South Hill on 4 October and of St. Ives on 12 December 1677, becoming Bishop of Bristol in 1685. He was one of the Seven Bishops tried for seditious libel under James II. Trelawny and the other bishops petitioned against James II's

Declaration of Indulgence The Declaration of Indulgence, also called Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, was a pair of proclamations made by James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland in 1687. The Indulgence was first issued for Scotland on 12 February and t ...

in 1687 and 1688, (granting

religious tolerance Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...

to Catholics) and as a result, he was arrested and imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

on charges of

seditious libel Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection ...

. The bishops said that whilst they were loyal to King James II, their consciences would not agree to allowing

freedom of worship Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...

to Catholics even if it were to be within the privacy of their own homes as the Declaration proposed; thus they could not sign. Trelawny was held for three weeks before trial, then tried and acquitted; this led to great celebrations, with bells being rung in his home parish of Pelynt. Trelawny was rewarded in 1689 by being appointed Bishop of Exeter (whilst still, until 1694, Archdeacon of Totnes) after the military defeat of James II and the accession of the Protestant William of Orange to the British throne. He was further rewarded by being appointed Bishop of Winchester in 1707, although his promotion was a matter of some controversy, as Queen Anne, who was determined to keep all important Church appointments within her own gift, overruled the advice of her ministers and of

Thomas Tenison Thomas Tenison (29 September 163614 December 1715) was an English church leader, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. During his primacy, he crowned two British monarchs. Life He was born at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, the son a ...

, the Archbishop of Canterbury in appointing him, thus provoking the so-called Bishoprics Crisis. He died in 1721, in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

; his body was taken back to Pelynt for burial.

Family

He married Rebecca Hele, by whom he had twelve children: *Charlotte Trelawny (1687/8 – aft. 1745), unmarried *Letitia Trelawny (b. 1689), married

Sir Harry Trelawny, 5th Baronet Sir Harry Trelawny, 5th Baronet (1687 – 7 April 1762), of Whitleigh, Devon, was a British Army officer and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1710. Trelawny was baptised on 15 February 1687 at Egg Buckland, Devon, the ...

* Sir John Trelawny, 4th Baronet (1691–1756) *Henry Trelawny (1692–1707), fought in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

and died with Admiral Sir

Cloudesley Shovell Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c. November 1650 – 22 or 23 October 1707) was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and then at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch Wa ...

aboard HMS ''Association'' during the

Scilly naval disaster of 1707 The Scilly naval disaster of 1707 was the loss of four warships of a Royal Navy fleet off the Isles of Scilly in severe weather on 22 October 1707. Between 1,400 and 2,000 sailors lost their lives aboard the wrecked vessels, making the incident ...

.James Herbert Cooke, The Shipwreck of Sir Cloudesley Shovell on the Scilly Islands in 1707, From Original and Contemporary Documents Hitherto Unpublished, Read at a Meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, London, 1 Feb. 1883
/ref> *Charles Trelawny (1694 – 24 August 1721), without issue, prebendary of Westminster *Rebecca Trelawny (1696–1743), married John Francis Buller in 1716 *Elizabeth Trelawny (1697 – 25 January 1744), married Rev. George Allanson (d. 1741), Archdeacon of Cornwall * Edward Trelawny (1699–1754), became governor of Jamaica *Mary Trelawny (b. 1700), died in infancy *Rev. Hele Trelawny (1703–1740), without issue *Jonathan Trelawny (b. 1705), died in infancy *Anne Trelawny (1707–1745), unmarried

Reputation

It is sometimes suggested that Bishop Trelawny was immortalised in the Cornish Anthem, "

", better known simply as "Trelawny", written over a century later and composed by Parson

Robert Stephen Hawker Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875) was a British Anglican priest, poet, antiquarian and reputed eccentric, known to his parishioners as Parson Hawker. He is best known as the writer of " The Song of the Western Men" with its chorus line of ...

, vicar of

Morwenstow Morwenstow ( kw, Logmorwenna) is a civil parish in north Cornwall, UK. The parish abuts the west coast, about six miles (10 km) north of Bude and within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Morwenstow is the most norther ...

. :''And shall Trelawny live?'' :''Or shall Trelawny die!'' :''Here's twenty thousand Cornish men'' :''Will know the reason why!''

Notes

References

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External links