PETER

The Peter family held the Manor of Trefrys or Trefrize and some farms before 1620, including the area now known as Illand. It is believed that John Peter and his wife Honour, née Dawe, both of whom were probably born around the turn of the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, are the earliest occupants of Illand whose identity has survived.

Honour was buried in St Torney's churchyard in 1655. The burial of a John Peter in 1676 is thought to be her husband and the lands passed down through the family over many generations. Illand included West Illand, East Illand and Moralls all of which were under the control of the Peter family.

Parish register entry of the burial of Honour Peter in 1665

Illand passed from John Peter to his son Arthur who, in turn, left it to his eldest son, John Peter (1671-1739). This younger John wrote his will just before his death in December 1739. Extracts from the somewhat complicated will and a full transcript are shown in the panel below. Readers will notice that the date of grant of probate is dated 11th February 1739, apparently before the will was written but this was before the change of the calendar; at that time the new year started on March 29th.

 

The will of John Peter (1671-1739)

In the name of God Amen. I John Peter of the parish of Northill in the County of Cornwall, yeoman being of sound & perfect memory (revoking all wills & testaments by me heretofore made) do make this my last will & testament in manner & form following. Imprimis, I bequeath my soul into the hands of God who gave it, my body to decent Christian burial at the expense of my executor hereafter named.

  • Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Robert the tenement called Coquarnel in the parish of Lewannick during the term I have in it. I likewise give, devise & bequeath unto my said son Robert & his heirs male, the moiety of the halfendale of the tenement called Hollyvag in the said parish of Lewannick & for the want of such heirs male unto my lawful heirs.
  • Item. I give devise & bequeath unto my son Arthur, the moiety or halfendale of the tenement of Polglaze in the parish of Altarnun, & to his heirs male, upon condition that the said Arthur do pay unto my daughter Grace the sum of one hundred pounds of lawful British money (which I give & bequeath unto my daughter as a legacy) within twelve months after my decease.
  • Item. I give devise & bequeath unto my son Samuel, a fourth part of a third part of a field called Trughill, part of the Barton of Trefrize, & to his heirs male, & for want of such heirs male, to my lawful heirs.
  • Item. I give, devise & bequeath to my said son Samuel, the moiety or halfendale of a tenement called Cargelly in the parish of Altarnun & to his heirs male, & for want of such heirs male unto my lawful heirs.
  • Item. I give & bequeath to my son Edward a tenement called Tremollet in the parish of Northill during the term I have in it.
  • Item. I give, devise & bequeath to my said son, Edward the sixth part of a third part of a field called Hollywell, being part of the Barton of Trefrize & to his heirs male, & for want of such heirs male to my lawful heirs.
  • Item. I give, devise & bequeath to my said son, Edward another sixth part of a third part of the said field called Hollywell for the remainder of the term I have in it.
  • Item. I give devise & bequeath unto my son Arthur one third part of my land in Quarry Park, part of the Barton of Trefrize & to his heirs male.
  • Item. I give devise & bequeath unto my son Samuel one other third part of my said land in Quarry Park & to his heirs male.
  • Item. The other third part of my land in the said Quarry Park, I give, devise & bequeath unto my sons Robert & Edward & their heirs male.
  • Item. All the residue & remainder of my goods & chattels, I give & bequeath unto my sons, Robert, Arthur, Samuel & Edward to be equally divided between them.
  • Item. All my lands & tenements goods & chattels, rights & credits not by me herein before given, devised or bequeathed after the payment & satisfaction of all my just debts, legacies & funeral expenses, I give, devise & bequeath unto my son John Peter, whom I constitute & appoint whole & sole executor of this my last will & testament.

In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand & seal this 23rd day of December 1739
Signed sealed published and declared in the presence of us who likewise subscribe our names as witnesses in the presence of the Testator and of each other
N Roberts
Richard {???}
Honour Merifield

Having divided the various properties in this way the outcome was that all the beneficiaries except John Peter (1696-1778), the eldest surviving son, were required to sell their legacies of land and convert the asset into cash. Parts of West Illand were sold to John by his brother, Samuel, which in succeeding generations came into the ownership of the wife of Otho Bathurst Peter's wife - (Otho was the architect of Launceston Guildhall). The remaining parts of West Illand eventually passed into the control of Peter family members that lived in Holsworthy.

In the North Hill Rate Demands of 1745 John Peter (1696-1778), son of John whose will is shown above, paid five shillings and a penny for East Illand.

The Nurseries at Illand are currently run by Ken and Dave Roberts. They have been collecting information about the Peter family who lived at Illand and the following history and anecdotes have been largely derived from that source.

Ken's notes tells us that Richard Peter, "The Historian" (1809-1910), recalls that when he was about 9 years of age:

"John Peter of West Illand walked across a field which belonged to my father at East Illand carrying a gun and having a dog with him. This was done in the belief that he claimed a right to shoot over the place and my father asked him why he was there. He answered 'I am one of the Lords of the Manor of Trefrys and this is within my Manor'. My father forbade him and threatened action of trespass".

Richard also recorded this:

"In the village of Illand lived a Mr Richard John who was born deaf and dumb and naturally communicated his ideas by gesticulation and strange actions. The first occasion when Richard Peter met Mr John he thought he was being courteous to imitate him. This made the man very angry - he opened the gate and gave Richard [Peter] a good shaking which had a lasting effect upon his mind".

Richard remembers his education:

"My father, when a young man, was still in a position for acquiring literary information. Besides farming East Illand he adapted one of the cottages for school purposes and in it he methodically taught us, his children, the earlier mysteries of reading, writing and arithemtic with a little Latin. Three of my distant cousins from Hollyvag joined us. In 1819 this system of discipline ceased and our old school house was re-converted to a place of abode for farm labourers. My brother and I were sent to the public school at Northhill village. Here congregated the teachable sons of the farmers of Northhill, Lewannick and Linkinhorne with three or four sons of aspiring country tradesmen. Children of the Rector and Squire were elsewhere and those of the labourer were nowhere." Richard also remembers teaching some junior boys to write by tracing letters with his forefinger in fine sand on the floor.

Richard's life on the farm:

"I performed all the duties on the farm, in the garden, the yards and the fields. I became moderately proficient in all the ordinary operations of husbandry. I used the spade, the plough and the scythe. I could fairly estimate the tonnage of a hayrick, the quantity per acre of growing corn or turnips or the weight of living animals and I could build a hedge."

"As I was always interested in the land my father allowed me a small portion of ground to cultivate and till and I received commendation for my neatness. I also planted acorns and sycamore seeds and some of the plants were planted in part of the mowhay and they grew to be 35 - 40 feet in height."

"I kept a rough diary and I noticed that on July 5th 1817 my father sold wool to Mr Eyre of Launceston at 8d a pound. In 1820 beef was selling at 4d a pound, wheat at 12 shillings a bag (2 Winchester bushels), barley at 8 shillings a bag and butter at 10½d per pound."

He goes on to describe other farming practices and an accident in the Pound House and these can be seen on the Illand page on this website. Richard turned his attention to other aspects of life starting with worship every Sunday morning in St Torney's:

"The West Illand pew [was] a large square box at the east end of the north aisle by the wall; ours at East Illand adjoined it, and next to it was the Langstone pew [of] Mr Arthur Peter. These 3 pews occupied the whole seated space along the north wall. The vaults of the North Hill ancestors are under these pews. There was a choir in the gallery at the western end (now removed) which was led by a violin, flute, bassoon and violincello."

"As the congregation left the church they were often delayed by the reading of notices about rates and parochial matters, Royal proclamations, the loss or recovery of a bullock, sheep or a purse."

"Sunday school was in the afternoon at Coads Green My brother and I walked there up Gryll's Lane and across fields by Langstone."

"At the age of 16 my father let East Illand and went with his family to live at Liskeard."

John Wesley

The Peter family supported the established church at Illand and, it seems, the Wesleyan Methodist church as well. This would appear to be a pragmatic decision rather than based upon devout faith to one form of worship. Illand was, after all, one of the centres of Methodism in the area and according to John Peter (probably the John born in 1696 and died in 1778), John Wesley himself preached at Illand. The part that the Peter family Illand played in the development of Methodism is evidenced by the entry in "Truly Rural" by Herbert Bolitho on page 38 that cites Richard Peter and his son Samuel.