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It would seem that as those Argall families in Cornwall
spread out from Mabe/Budock in the late 14th century/early 15th century, they did so
first to the surrounding areas of St Keverne, Helston, and Camborne.
By the end of the 15th Century, they also established a presence, first at
Gulval and then at Maddern (now Madron), a small farming community close to
Penzance; it might well be that at this period (1524), Madron was within the
area of Gulval ecclesiastical parish (Madron parish registers commence in
1577). It is from these families that moved to Madron that
all Argalls today descend.
So these west–Cornish Argalls were, by the 16th Century, farming land at
Luthergwearne which itself is on the outskirts of Madron and close to modern
Penzance, and which had probably been in the Argall family since the early
1500s. By 1560, William and Katherine Argall
were living at the
Luthergwearne farm, and it is from these two that the firm evidence proves that
most, if not all, ARGALLs today are descended.
The unconfirmed father of William is either Thomas Argall, who was recorded
in Gulval in 1524, or Hugh Argall – a record of whose Will survives but,
unfortunately, not the Will itself. It is also possible that these
two were brothers, and were farming together, but it is also possible that Hugh
was the son of Thomas or even the other way around; I have been unable to prove
a relationship. Hugh was wealthy enough to leave property, but little is
known about Thomas. There was also supposed to have been a family tradition that
the youngest son inherited the farm property, whist the others were left
bequests. Moreover, William’s younger son, another William is supposed to have
inherited the Luthergwearne Farm from his grandfather, so by–passing his
father.
Whatever the case of family management and relationships, Madron is most
definitely the root of the modern ARGALL families, with the strong possibility
(if not certainty) that their forebears came from St Keverne and the Lizard
peninsular of Cornwall. So, the family continued to develop in
Cornwall where they centred at Luthergwearne. There were other
ARGALL families living in other locations close by, but these do not lead us to
the families alive in the world at the beginning of the 21st century as they
seem to have died (or ’daughtered’) out.
Back in Madron, William & Katherine Argall also had
an elder son called Thomas; he married Joan
Weymouth on 10 August 1578 and they had a number of children. No
living ARGALL descendants of Thomas and Joan Argall can now be
found. William and Katherine’s younger son, also called William (and
who inherited the farm from his grandfather Thomas), married an Agnes (surname unknown) on 7 November
1591. William and Agnes named their first born Thomas, and this Thomas married twice: first
to an Elizabeth by whom he had one son called Richard, and secondly to a Katherine
by
whom he had five more children. This Thomas’s family went to live in
nearby Sancreed where it developed for two more generations before it disappears
from the records. Thomas and William seem to be popular and
regular family forenames in Cornwall.
The second child born to William and Agnes was another
William Argall, who was born in
1600. This William became a farmer like his father and eventually
(as the youngest surviving son) he inherited the Luthergwearne Estate and
farm. However, he remained a bachelor until, in his sixties, on the
25 April 1668 he married Margery Beauchamp,
who was the daughter of a wealthy merchant of Penryn. The Beauchamps
were another very old and established family who had held the Manor of
Binnerton, which is situated in Crowan parish, very close to Madron, for many
generations. Margery was 43 years old when she married William at St Gluvias
parish church on 25th April 1668, after which the couple moved back to the farm
at Madron. Because of her years, Margery was only able to bear William one
child, and that was in late 1669 when she was aged 45. The child was a boy, whom
they named John
; he was baptised in Madron parish church on 17th April
1670. This birth was very important for the ARGALL families of
today, because it is from him that all are descended; indeed, it is interesting
to think that if he had not survived as a child of this elderly couple, there
would not have been any ARGALLs living today. John Argall married an ’Elizabeth’ (again, the surname
is not recorded) around 1698, although where is not clear since his marriage has
not been found in the Cornish Church Registers. John & Elizabeth
had four children. The first was Margery, named after John’s mother, who
was born around 1701, but who died later in 1702. The second was John, named after his father, and who was born
in 1703. The third was William,
who was born in 1706. The youngest was Martyn
who was born in
1709. These three boys were the ancestors of all the
modern ARGALLs; they were brought up on the farm where they participated in all
that running a farm entails
However, John and Martyn left home together in 1724,
leaving only William (as the youngest son) to stay on in Madron to help run the
family farm. William married Alice
Evah on 26 April 1736 by which time, his father, John, was widowed and was
increasingly unable to take part in the running of the farm. After
this marriage had taken place, old John moved to join his other two sons in
Perranzabuloe where he died a month later. William inherited the
family estate and his descendants continued with the estate until 1863, when the
last died without issue . William, himself, died in 1762 when the
farm passed to his youngest child and only surviving son Philip Argall
.
Other Early Evidence
|
The Cornwall Protestation Returns of 1641 recorded the following
ARGALLs, (using the original spelling) all ’making their own
mark’: |
| Crowan |
Tho(mas) Argoll |
Rich(ard) Argoll |
Bennet Argoll |
| Madron |
John Argoll |
Nowell Argall |
|
| Sancreed |
Thomas Argoll |
William Argoll |
|
| |
| The Cornwall Hearth & Poll Taxes 1660–1664
lists the following ARGALLs: |
| Madron |
Anne Argall |
1 ex. |
|
| Morvah |
Philip Argall |
|
(side note: "No such person to be
found") |
This last–named Philip from Madron was the youngest son of Thomas Argall/Joan
Weymouth and was not the Philip to whom the Luthergwearne farm was
left. He had married Alice Guy from Morvah (the next parish) in
1656; he seemed to have excelled at hiding from the taxman, as he never did pay
his dues!
The Addition of Polgoon.
In 1793, William’s son, Philip
Argall, leased the Polgoon Estate from the Rashleigh family, which he added
to Luthergwearne. The two estates stretched northwards “….to the
sea”, to Little and Great Bossullow; this was a considerable acreage stretching
almost across the Cornish Peninsular. The various properties are
shown on the 1840 Tithe map of Madron. Although the estate was
broken up after Philip Argall died in 1819 (the land was shared between his
children), the land and property continued to be occupied by the
family. One son, Henry Eva
Argall, however, took his inheritance and moved to London where he married
and his family lived a comfortable life with his children eventually working in
the Bank of England. Polgoon was ‘lost’ in 1863 when John Argall
(Philip’s grandson and the last ’life’ upon whom the copyhold lease was
secured) died unmarried and without an heir.
However, one of Philip’s unmarried daughters: Elizabeth Argall, retained much land from her
inheritance from the estate. In 1873 she was recorded as owning 35
acres, 1 rood and 10 perches of land producing an estimated gross rental of £34
a year. Elizabeth died in 1877 when the property was disposed
of. By this time, Madron had almost become a suburb of
Penzance. My own grandfather, who was born in St Agnes in 1861, went
to live there in 1894 when he married but, apart from this, there have been no
continuous residences of ARGALLs there since the last quarter of the 19th
century. My Uncle, Bertie
Argall who lived his whole life in the town, died in
Penzance in 1988; after then no Argall has lived in the Madron/Penzance
area.
Ian Argall © 2006 - 2009
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