Arwenack


Arwenack, historically in the parish of St Budock, Cornwall, is a historic manor on the site of what is today the town of Falmouth. It was partly destroyed in 1646, and only a remnant survives today. It was long held by the Killigrew family, which was responsible for the development of the town of Falmouth, Sir Peter Killigrew, MP, having received a royal charter for its foundation in 1661.

Etymology

Arwenack is said to signify in the ancient Cornish language either "the beloved, still cove", or "upon the marsh".

Descent

de Arwenack

The earliest recorded lord of the manor of Arwenack was the de Arwenack family:

Simon Killigrew

Simon Killigrew, married Jane de Arwenack, daughter and sole heiress of Robert de Arwenack. He was the son of John Killigrew of Killigrew, by his wife Mary Poltesmore, daughter of Sir Richard Poltesmore, and was the first of the family to hold Arwenack.

Thomas Killigrew

Thomas Killigrew, son, whose wife was a member of the Beaupell family. He had two sons:
John Killigrew, senior, of Arwenack, eldest son and heir, who married Mary Boleigh, daughter and heiress of John Boleigh. The Killigrews later quartered the arms of Boleigh: Argent, on a chevron sable between three torteaux as many bezants, as visible on the monumental brass in St Budock's Church to John Killigrew of Arwenack, first Governor of Pendennis Castle.

John Killigrew (died pre-1513)

John Killigrew, son and heir, who died with no sons, leaving a daughter and sole heiress Elizabeth Killigrew, wife of John Godolphin of Godolphin, Cornwall. The estates however descended to his younger brother as heir male under an entail.

Thomas Killigrew (died 1513)

Thomas Killigrew, of Arwenack, younger brother. he died on 20 September 1513 at Biscay in the Kingdom of Aragon in Spain. He married twice, firstly to Jane Darrell, daughter and heiress of William Darrell of Andover, Hampshire, by whom he had a son and heir Alexander Killigrew, and secondly in 1512 to Johanna Herry, daughter of John Herry of Ruddeford

Alexander Killigrew (born 1493)

Alexander Killigrew, of Arwenack, eldest son and heir by his father's first marriage. He appears to have died without children, since his heir was his second cousin once removed John Killigrew, the son of his second cousin John Killigrew of Penryn by his wife Jane Petit, daughter and co-heiress of John Petit of Ardevera.

John Killigrew (died 1567)

John Killigrew of Arwenack, second cousin once removed of Alexander Killigrew, of Arwenack. He was the first Governor of Pendennis Castle, situated on land within the Arwenack estate on the tip of a peninsula about 1 mile south-east of Arwenack House, appointed by King Henry VIII. He married Elizabeth Trewennard, 2nd daughter of James Trewennard of Trewennard, in the parish of St Erth. His monumental brass survives in St Budock's Church, Budock Water, immediately to the west of Arwenack, inscribed as follows:
He rebuilt Arwenack House, described by Martin Lister-Killigrew as "the finest and most costly then in the county, as to this time in part appears by the stately hall window thereof, still standing, and was possessed of one of the largest estates in the county, his lands on those parts extending from Arwenack, to Helford passage, and had the propriety of sixteen parish tythes". He had five sons, including:
He also had several daughters, including
Sir John Killigrew of Arwenack, son, 2nd Governor of Pendennis Castle appointed by Queen Elizabeth I, as stated on his father's brass in St Budock's Church.
He was MP for Lostwithiel in 1563 and twice for the family's pocket borough of Penryn, in 1571 and 1572. Together with his father he opposed the Catholic Queen Mary and her Spanish husband, and used his fleet of ships to keep the Protestant exiles in France abreast of political developments and attacked Spanish shipping in the Channel. In 1556 he was imprisoned by Mary with his father in the Fleet, but released after three weeks. On the succession of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I he was restored to royal favour. He became notorious for engaging in cattle theft, "evil usage in keeping of a castle" and as a Justice of the peace for abuses in arranging the quarter sessions. Having been appointed a Commissioner to inquire into piracy, he himself was heavily engaged in that activity and traded with smugglers and pirates who frequented the waters around Arwenack. He was the subject of an official investigation in 1565. In January 1582 both he and his wife Mary Wolverston were suspected of involvement in a notorious act of piracy concerning a Spanish ship which had sheltered from a storm in an anchorage opposite Arwenack. It was said that he and his wife had acted together to overpower or murder the crew and steal the cargo of cloth, before ordering the ship to be disposed of in Ireland. He married Mary Wolverston, daughter of Philip Wolverston of Wolverston Hall in Suffolk, and widow of Henry Knyvett. A mural monument to the couple was erected by their son in St Budock's Church, showing them facing each other kneeling in prayer. His youngest daughter Katherine Killigrew became the 3rd wife of Sir Henry Billingsley Lord Mayor of London.

John Killigrew (c. 1557 – 1605)

, of Arwennack, son, was Vice-Admiral of Cornwall and the third Governor of Pendennis Castle, and was three times MP for Penryn in 1584, 1586 and 1597. He had notorious dealings with local pirates. Due to his father's debts and his own extravagance he died in poverty. He married Dorothy Monck, a daughter of Sir Thomas Monk of Potheridge, Merton, Devon. By his wife he had children 6 sons and 4 daughters, including:
Sir John Killigrew, eldest son, who married Jane Fermor, daughter of Sir George Fermor of Northampton. She was confused by the Cornwall historian William Hals in his History of Cornwall for her grandmother-in-law the pirate Mary Wolverston. She was accused by her husband of engaging in prostitution and is said to have been "first debauched by the Governor of Pendennis Castle". He at last obtained a divorce in the Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury, but at such great expense that he faced ruin. He died without children, the last of the "John Killigrews" of Arwenack, and was succeeded by his younger brother Peter. Lady Jane had been supported by the mayor and corporation of Penryn, which borough was jealous to preserve its ancient pre-eminence in face of the growing town of Falmouth, fostered by the Killigrews. She fled to Penryn where she was hospitably received by the mayor and corporation, to whom, after her husband's death in 1633 she presented a two-foot high silver cup inscribed:
Her husband was described as a sober and good man, but one who was always unfortunate.

Sir Peter Killigrew (c. 1593 – 1668)

Sir Peter Killigrew, younger brother, MP for Orkney, Shetland and Caithness in 1659 and for Helston in Cornwall from 1661 - July 1668, known as Peter the Post from the speed and efficiency with which during the Civil War he despatched messages and other commissions entrusted to him in the cause of King Charles I". He was briefly Governor of Pendennis Castle from March to September 1660. He inherited Arwenack in 1633 on the death of his elder brother without children. he married Mary Lucas, daughter of Thomas Lucas, MP, of St. John's Abbey, Colchester, and sister of Margaret Lucas, wife of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle and an attendant of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I, with whom she went into exile in France, having departed with her son prince Charles in 1644 from Pendennis Castle near Arwenack, en route for the Scilly Isles. His support for the Royalists during the Civil War caused the destruction of Arwenack House by the Parliamentarians during their 5-month siege of Pendennis Castle in 1646. It was never rebuilt again on the former grand scale. He obtained a grant to hold markets at Smithwick, next to Arwenack, which became the nucleus of the town of Falmouth, for the establishment of which new town in 1661 he received a royal charter from King Charles II, following the Restoration of the Monarchy. The document refers to Sir Peter Killigrew as "our beloved and faithful subject" and states that it is given "in consideration of the good, faithful, and acceptable services, by him the said Peter as well to Us, as to our most dear Father, the Lord Charles, late king of England " He received licence to transfer of the customs house from Penryn to Falmouth and established a new parish for his new town served by a new church dedicated to "King Charles the Martyr", the executed Charles I, in which he was buried in 1668.

Sir Peter Killigrew, 2nd Baronet (1634–1705)

, son, who inherited his uncle's baronetcy under the special remainder. In 1660 he was elected Member of Parliament for Camelford in Cornwall, which election was declared void later the same year. He married Frances Twisden, a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Roger Twisden, of East Peckham, Kent. In 1697 he moved away from Arwenack to Ludlow in Shropshire, where he died in 1705, but was returned for burial in Falmouth. By his wife he had the following children:
Martin Lister Killigrew was born Martin Lister, of Liston, Staffordshire, and as a junior army officer was stationed at Pendennis Castle during the Governorship of the Earl of Bath. In 1689 at the time he resigned from the army he married Anne Killigrew, the youngest daughter of Sir Peter Killigrew, 2nd Baronet, of Arwenack, the last male Killigrew of Arwenack. Under the terms of his wife's inheritance, on his marriage he adopted the additional surname of Killigrew, but died childless when the ancient name became extinct at Arwenack, and the estate became the inheritance of Lord Wodehouse. He wrote a history of the Killigrew family, which is the main source for the early history of Falmouth. He left Falmouth in 1725 and in 1737 wrote a series of letters to his steward at Arwenack, Abraham Hall, instructing him to build a stone pyramid monument at Arwenack. His instructions were detailed, but he insisted there should be no inscription. It stood originally in the centre of a grove of trees, but in 1836 was moved to the hilltop at the southern end of The Avenue, and was again moved to its present position on Arwenack Green in 1871. As a junior soldier he witnessed the brutal hangings of rebels in July 1685 at Taunton by Lieutenant General Percy Kirke following the Battle of Sedgemoor, and wrote an account of it which was eventually published by in the Sun newspaper of London on 3 September 1796.

In literature

Arwenack is the setting for the historical novel The Grove of Eagles by Winston Graham, which chronicles the lives of the Killigrew family in the 1590s. The narrator, an illegitimate son of John Killigrew, notes the extraordinary unhappiness and ill-fortune which visited so many of those who lived in Arwenack in his lifetime, and led to a local legend that Arwenack was under a curse. The narrator's own view was that the only curse was excessive ambition: his great-grandfather, Sir John Killigrew, had built his new house on a scale so lavish that it drained the family's resources, so that "from his time on, there was always a hint of the feverish and the insolvent in our lives".