William Gwavas (1676–1741) was an English barrister and writer in the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...

Life

The eldest son of William Gwavas, by Eliza, daughter of Sir Thomas Arundell of

Tolverne Philleigh () is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, one of the four civil parishes in the Roseland Peninsula. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Treworlas, Treworthal and a number of smaller settlements. Philleigh lies wit ...

, near

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

, he was born at Huntingfield Hall,

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, 6 December 1676, and baptised in Huntingfield Church on 1 January following. He was articled to James Holt, an attorney in

Lyon's Inn Lyon's Inn was one of the Inns of Chancery attached to London's Inner Temple. Founded some time during or before the reign of Henry V, the Inn educated lawyers including Edward Coke and John Selden, although it was never one of the larger Inns. ...

, and then entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, where he purchased a ground chamber, No. 4 Brick Court. Gwavas moved back to Cornwall, living in a house in Chapel Street,

Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...

. His father had left his Cornish property with debts, but he paid off the incumbrances, and redeemed the mortgage on the rectory of

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

. With this rectory he had inherited a chancery suit, begun on 14 June 1680, as to the right of the rector to take

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

of fish landed at

Newlyn Newlyn () is a seaside town and fishing port in south-west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' It is the largest fishing port in England. Newlyn lies on the shore of Mount's Bay and for ...

and

Mousehole Mousehole () is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, UK. It is approximately south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay. The village is in the civil parish of Penzance. An islet called St Clement's Isle lies about offshore fro ...

. The case came before the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

on 26 February 1730, and went against the fishermen. Nevertheless, at the entrance to Newlyn there was for many years a notice affixed to a house which said "One and All, No tithe of fish". Gwavas was buried on 9 January 1741 in Paul Church, where a marble monument was erected to his memory.

Works

About 1710

Edward Lhuyd Edward Lhuyd (1660– 30 June 1709), also known as Edward Lhwyd and by other spellings, was a Welsh scientist, geographer, historian and antiquary. He was the second Keeper of the University of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, and published the firs ...

visited Cornwall, and conferred with Gwavas,

Thomas Tonkin Thomas Tonkin (1678–1742) was a Cornish landowner and historian. Early life He was born at Trevaunance, St Agnes, Cornwall, and baptised in its parish church on 26 September 1678, was the eldest son of Hugh Tonkin (1652–1711), vice-warden o ...

, and

John Keigwin John Keigwin (1641–1716) was a Cornish antiquary, born at Mousehole, Cornwall. He was a leading member of a group of antiquaries in west Penwith: this group also included John and Thomas Boson, William Gwavas, Thomas Tonkin, William Borlase, O ...

as to the formation of a "Cornu-British vocabulary". At this period they were the main authorities in the county on the old Cornish language, collectors of mottoes, proverbs, and idioms. In the dedication to Tonkin's ''Parochial History of Cornwall'', 1733, the only part of the work that was printed, the author said Gwavas had helped him with Cornish vocabulary and texts. Gwavas's Cornish writings in manuscript went to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

(Addit. MS. 28554). His

commonplace book Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into blank books. They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the Renaissance and in the nineteenth century. Such book ...

, dated 1710, was in the sale of W. C. Borlase's library on 22 February 1887, and was purchased by

Bernard Quaritch Bernard Alexander Christian Quaritch ( ; April 23, 1819 – December 17, 1899) was a German-born British bookseller and collector. The company established by Bernard Quaritch in 1847 lives on in London as Bernard Quaritch Ltd, dealing in rare ...

Family

On 29 April 1717 Gwavas married Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Harris of St. Ives, Cornwall, with whom he received a portion of £1,500. He left two daughters: Anne, who married the Rev. Thomas Carlyon, and died in 1797, and Elizabeth, who married William Veale, and died in 1791.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Gwavas, William 1676 births 1741 deaths English barristers Cornish-language writers People from Truro