TRELAWNY, John II (1691-1756), of Trelawne, nr. Looe, Cornw.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

20 Apr. 1713 - 1715
1715 - 1722
1722 - 1727
1727 - 1734

Family and Education

b. 26 July 1691, 1st s. of Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 3rd Bt., bp. of Exeter, by Rebecca, da. and coh. of Thomas Hele of Bascombe, Devon; bro. of Edward Trelawny†.  educ. Christ Church, Oxf. 1708.  m. Agnes (d. 1777), da. of Thomas Blackwood of Scotland, s.psuc. fa. as 4th Bt. 19 July 1721.

Offices Held

Freeman, Southampton 1708.1

Groom of the bedchamber to Prince of Wales 1714–?17.

Recorder, East Looe ?1721–34.2

Biography

The eldest of 12 children, Trelawny was marked out from an early age as the heir to the Trelawnys’ extensive influence in Devon and Cornwall. ‘Colonel’ Trelawny seems to have joined the 1710 election campaign, it being reported in August that he was to travel to the West country with his father, and that although Liskeard ‘designs to revolt from him’, he hoped ‘they may have a struggle for it’. In December 1711 it was reported that he was going abroad, although it was believed his father would ‘scarcely part with him’. He seems to have pursued his plan to travel overseas since it was reported in June 1712 that ‘when he returns’ the family’s parliamentary interest was to be made over to him. Having come of age he did not have long to wait for an entry into Parliament. The death of Arthur Maynwaring, MP for one of the family’s seats at West Looe, permitted his return at a by-election at the start of the 1713 session. He retained his seat at the ensuing general election. Trelawny was present in the Commons on 18 Mar. 1714 when he voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele. On the Worsley list he was classed as a Whig who would sometimes vote with the Tories, and as a Whig on two comparative analyses of the 1713 and 1715 Parliaments. On 28 Dec. 1714, Harry Trelawny* wrote to Trelawny’s sister Laetitia of her brother Trelawny’s success ‘both at Liskeard and Hengar – I always believed your brother would have the whole possession of what he is worth’, evidently a reference to a parliamentary seat and presumably to the eventual ownership of Hengar, residence of his uncle, Charles Trelawny*. Trelawny was duly returned in 1715 and was happy to accommodate himself with the new Whig regime. He died on 2 Feb. 1756.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Eveline Cruickshanks / Stuart Handley

Notes

  • 1. Southampton RO, Southampton bor. recs. SC3/2, f. 43.
  • 2. Cornw. RO, Dc/Looe 62.
  • 3. HMC Portland, v. 127, 193; vii. 13; Trelawny Corresp: Letters between Myrtilla and Philander ed. Sterling 34.