Catalogue description TREGONING OF LANDUE, LEZANT

The Archives of the Tregoning family were deposited at the Cornwall County Record Office in September 1990. They comprise about half of the records of the family, those relating specifically to the administration of the Llanelly tinplate works and to the family's home in Carmarthenshire being deposited at the Dyfed County Record Office.

The history of the family has been published Two Centuries of a Cornish Family, by E. A. Tregoning, published by Edgar Backus, Leicester, 1950, a copy being available at the Cornwall W Record Office [reference TG11/23/1 The family were mining agents and miners in Gwennap in the early eighteenth century, living and marrying locally until John Simmons Tregoning (born 1814) moved first to Boscastle to work for John Langford, and subsequently to London and Liverpool. In, 1844 he established a metal and ship brokerage firm in Liverpool and in 1849 established the Bissoe tin smelting works. Two years later he set up the Llanelly tinplate works, and the family's fortunes and social status increased as the business expanded. In 1867 they purchased Landue in Lezant, and though maintaining homes in Wales, made Cornwall their main residence, becoming closely involved in county and local government and organisation, and in farming.

The documents reflect the family's changing circumstances, from leasehold cottages in Gwennap to one of the county's fine smaller estates; from active involvement in the tin industry to the management of production and exports. While business records are not present in quantity (most of them being transferred to Dyfed), the records contain an almost unparalleled series of farm reports and diaries from the 1860s to the 1980s (sealed at present but a superb source for agricultural histories of the future). There are numerous records relating to trusts, settlements and the administration of personal estates, and a substantial amount of personal correspondence spanning over a century.

Title deeds, leases and estate papers

Maps and plans, 1813-1972

Estate management: account books, bills and invoices, farm reports, correspondence, 1865-1980

Letter books, 1866-1961

Estate diaries, 1963-1988

Individual records: Bissoe and Llanelly, 1848-1962

Local government and public office: shrievalty, parish council, Parliamentary elections, 1832-1910

Local organisation: parish and church, schools, infirmary, banks, railways, 1834-1928

Probate, trusts and settlements, 1767-1973

Personal correspondence, 1820s - 20th century

Educational records, 1809, 1880s-1912

Personal records and papers, 1842-1920

Miscellaneous, 1815-1873

The present list represents the first stage in the cataloguing process, the sorting and bundle listing of the documents, Each bundle carries an identifying reference number which enables documents to be identified and produced for research. In due course it is intended to compile a more detailed descriptive catalogue.

Tregoning family of Lezant, Cornwall

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