Joseph Trevail and Jane Rundle and Eliza Roach

Luxulyan Church, dedicated to St Cyriacus & St Julitta
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Rod Allday - geograph.org.uk/p/2708738

Joseph Trevail married Jane Rundle on 19 Jun 1837, in Luxulyan, Cornwall. Joseph Trevail (bap. 24 Jun 1816, at Luxulyan), was the son of John Trevail and Elizabeth Knight. Jane Rundle (bap. 5 Jan 1818, at Luxulyan), was the daughter of Nicholas Rundle and Mary Ann Burn. The same two surnames in the same small farming community, must surely be connected. 

Joseph and Jane Trevail had at least 12 children:

1. Nicholas Rundle Trevail bap. 28 Jan 1838 in Luxulyan
2. Ellen Trevail bap. 22 Sep 1839 in Luxulyan 
3. Mary Ann Burn Trevail bap. 29 Dec 1841 in Luxulyan
4. Emma Jane Rundle Trevail bap. 25 Feb 1843 in Luxulyan 
5. Elfrida Trevail bap. 4 Feb 1845 in Luxulyan (died 1921, see below)
6. Joseph Rundle Trevail, born 1847, bap. 21 Jun 1847 in Luxulyan
7. Dahlia Trevail born 1849, bap. (as Cordelia) 27 May 1849 
8. Charles Trevail born 1852 (no birth registration nor baptism)
9. Olivia Trevail, born 1854 (per census), bap. 20 May 1855 in Luxulyan
10. Nancy Rundell (sic) Trevail born 1855, bap. 20 May 1855 (disappears)
11. Kate Trevail born 12 Nov 1857, bap. 27 Dec 1857 in Luxulyan
12. Jane Rundle Trevail, born March quarter of 1860, bap. 29 Mar 1862

At Tregarden Farm, Luxulyan, in 1841, there were Joseph Trevail (25) Farmer, Jane (20), Nicholas (3), Ellen (1), Charles Trevail (20) and Philip Trevail (40). The 1841 census, annoyingly, doesn't give clues to the relationships between household members, but this latter would be exactly the right age to be the Philip Trevail, father of Jane Trevail, mother of Silvanus Trevail.

In 1851, again at Tregarden Farm, Luxulyan, the household comprised: Joseph Trevail (35) Farmer of 118 acres, Jane (34), Nicholas R (13) Farmer's Son, Ellen (11), Mary A (9), Alfreda (6), Joseph (4), Delilah (1), John Couch (17) Farm Servant, William Browne (17) Farm Servant, John Tamblyn (60) Vitenary Sergant (sic) - they mean Veterinary Surgeon LOL - from Broadoak.

Jane Trevail died, in the March quarter of 1860, aged 43.

In 1861, Joseph Trevail (45), was farming 118 acres at Tregarden Farm, Luxulyan, Nicholas R Trevail (23), Ellen (21), Elfreda (16), Joseph (15), Delcia (sic) (12), Charles (9), Olivia (7), Nancy (5), Kate (3) and Jane R (1).

There are no records for Emma Jane Rundle Trevail, other than the baptism in 1843, so my feeling is that she must not have survived infancy. 

There is a civil registration for Nancy, as well as a baptism and she's on the 1861 census, aged five, but there are no further records. 

Then in the last quarter of 1865, Joseph Trevail remarried to Eliza Roach, in Plymouth registration district, and went on to have another two daughters:

1. Hetty Trevail born 23 Apr 1866
2. Emily Trevail born 1868 (died 1893, aged 25)

Then the following item appeared in the London Gazette of 20 Aug 1869: 

"Joseph Trevail, of Tregarden in the Parish of Luxulyan, in the County of Cornwall, Farmer, having been adjudged bankrupt under a Petition for adjudication of Bankruptcy, filed in the County Court of Cornwall, holden at Bodmin on the 14th day of August 1869, is hereby required to surrender himself to John Basset Collins, Registrar of the said Court, at the first meeting of creditors to be held before the said Registrar, on the 4th day of September next, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon precisely, at the said Court."

In 1871, Joseph Trevail (55) was at Redmoor, Lanlivery with wife Eliza (45), Kitty (assume they mean Hetty) (4) and Emily (2) and Charlotte Ann Roach (12), listed as Daughter-in-law, but I imagine they mean Step-daughter.

In 1881, at Redmoor, Lanlivery, were Joseph Trevail (65) Butcher & farmer of 2½ acres, Eliza Trevail (56), Hetty Trevail (14), Emily Trevail (13).  

Lanlivery, St. Brevita's Church
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Michael Garlick - 
geograph.org.uk/p/6279283

Joseph Trevail died, aged 75, on 1 Apr 1891. He is buried at Lanlivery Parish Church and, having found these details in a record set called "Cornwall Memorial Inscriptions", we can probably assume that there may be a headstone there.

In 1891, Eliza Trevail (66) widow, farmer was still at Redmoor, Lanlivery, with her daughters Hetty (24) and Emily (22).

Emily Trevail died on 24 Oct 1893, aged 25 and is buried at the parish church in Lanlivery. Again, these details are from "Cornwall Memorial Inscriptions".

In 1901, Eliza Trevail (76) widow, living on own means, was alone at Churchtown, Lanlivery Rural, Bodmin. 

Eliza Trevail died on 26 Nov 1904, aged 80 and is also buried at Lanlivery parish church.

By 1871, Elfrida Trevail (26) was a Pauper Patient at the Lunatic Asylum, Bodmin (later St Lawrence's Mental Hospital). She was still there, aged 57, in 1901 and again in 1911, aged 67. After 50+ years in that institution, Elfrida Trevail died, aged 77, and was buried in Bodmin on 12 Dec 1921.

James Higgs and Ellen Trevail

Whistow Farm
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Phil Williams - geograph.org.uk/p/196552

Ellen Trevail, daughter of Joseph Trevail and Jane Rundle, married James Higgs, son of Samuel Nicholas Higgs, farmer, of Whistow Farm, Lanlivery, and Maria Olver (m. 9 Oct 1821 in Morval) at Luxulyan Parish Church, on 22 Jan 1862. Upon their marriage, James Higgs was listed as a Policeman.

In Dec 1862, James (24), Ellen (22) and their infant daughter, Maria Jane, embarked on that same voyage on the Huntress, with her younger sister, Mary Ann, arriving in Lyttelton, New Zealand on 21 Apr 1863. 

Records suggest that James and Ellen had at least eight children: 

1. Maria Jane Higgs, bap 10 Aug 1862 at Luxulyan, died, in 1863, in New Zealand at 13 months.
2. Kate Higgs born 12 Jul 1864 in New Zealand
3. Joseph Higgs born 1868
4. James Higgs born 1871
5. Dahlia Higgs born 1873
6. Ellen Olivia Higgs born 1876
7. Emma Jane Higgs born 1878
8. William John Higgs born 1881 (died 30 Mar 1910, aged 28 and is buried at Linwood Cemetery along with his wife, Amelia “Mena” Higgs)

James Higgs died on 17 Apr 1913 and is buried at Linwood Cemetery. In his will, he appointed his sons, Joseph and James, as his executors, both butchers. Ellen Higgs died on 21 Jul 1929, aged 88, and is also buried at Linwood Cemetery, along with her husband and youngest son.

Kate Higgs married John Philip Queree on 13 Jul 1882. Kate Higgs Queree died on 1 Jul 1924 and is buried at Bromley Cemetery, Bromley, Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand along with her husband.

I've found no further records for Dahlia, Ellen Olivia or Emma Jane.

John Bawden and Mary Ann Burn Trevail

Roseny Mill
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Phil Williams - geograph.org.uk/p/195972
An old millstone can be seen on the lawn at left.

Mary Ann Burn Trevail, daughter of Joseph Trevail and Jane Rundle, married John Bawden (bap. 3 Apr 1837 in Lanlivery), son of John Bawden and Elizabeth Giles (m. 4 Oct 1823 in Lanivet), at Luxulyan Parish Church, on 7 Jan 1861. Mary Ann's sister, Ellen Trevail, was bridesmaid at the wedding.

In 1861, newlyweds John (24) and Mary Ann (19) were living in the household of his parents, a miller at Lanlivery. The address, in 1851, was listed as Rosnea Mill, Lanlivery. Roseney Mill is today used as an AirBnB. 

Then John Bawden Snr died in 1862 and whether that had anything to do with their decision, but on 10 Dec 1862, John Bawden (25), Mary Ann and their infant son, Nicholas (bap. 6 Apr 1862 at Lanlivery), embarked in London aboard the ship, the Huntress. They arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand on 21 Apr 1863, after what must have been a nightmare journey of 130+ days. 

Between the tactless and unpopular captain, quarrels and firearms being drawn, much discontent about the way victuals were cooked and a terrible cyclone just south of the equator, when passengers were locked up in their quarters (for their protection, but equally frightening), when, "The ship reared almost perpendicularly bows or stern up or down, also rolling sideways, and all ways, in a most alarming manner", this was certainly no pleasure cruise.

Travelling on the same voyage was Mary Ann's sister, Ellen (22), her husband James Higgs (24) and their infant daughter, Maria Jane. Each couple contributed £17 towards the £26 for the cost of the passage as assisted emigration. £17 in 1862 is worth £2,644 in 2023. A big investment.

On the voyage there were "15 deaths, all children with the exception of one young women aged 17 and a boy belonging to the ship". Nicholas Bawdin (sic), died, aged 16 months, in New Zealand, in 1863. Ellen's daughter, Maria Jane Higgs, also perished at 13 months. The deaths were registered in New Zealand, but they could have been part of those grim statistics.

At the end of their arduous journey, John Bawden undertook heavy manual work digging the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel - the first tunnel in the world to be taken through the side of an extinct volcano - completed 1867 and, in 1921, John was "one of the last survivors of that little band of tunnel workers."

Although the Trevails were farmers, not miners, reading how Cornish Miners were going to New Zealand for new lives and to work on this project when and because the tin mines closed in Cornwall - and one can imagine much local talk and newspaper coverage of that in Cornwall - probably explains where they will have got the idea to make the decision to emigrate.

John and Mary Ann Bawden had 10 children in total, seven sons and two daughters survived: 

1. Nicholas Bawden bap. 6 Apr 1862 at Lanlivery, Cornwall (died, aged 16 months, in 1863 in New Zealand)
2. Mary Jane Bawden born 1864 in New Zealand
3. John Bawden born 1866 in New Zealand
4. Henry Bawden born 1868 in New Zealand
5. Joseph Bawden born 1869 in New Zealand
6. Alfred Bowden (sic) born 1872 in New Zealand
7. Charles Bowden (sic) born 1874 in New Zealand
8. Samuel Nicholas Bowden (sic) born 1876 in New Zealand
9. Emma Bawden born 1878 in New Zealand
10. William Bowden (sic) born 1883 in New Zealand

Mary Ann Burn Trevail Bawden died on 5 Jan 1921, aged 79-80. Sadly, Mary Ann just missed her diamond wedding anniversary by two days, because the marriage certificate shows that they were married on 7th Jan (not 2nd as it says in the article). Mary Ann is buried at Lyttelton Anglican Cemetery. 

John Bawden died on 14 Aug 1929, aged 91, and is buried with his wife.

The obituary for John Bawden lists eldest daughter as Mrs M Lewis: Mary Jane Bowden (sic) married Isaac Lewis in 1894 and their younger daughter as Mrs E Ballard: Emma Bowden (sic) married Walter Charles Ballard in 1906.

The Lyttelton portal of the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel with construction workers in 1867
Very likely one of the men in this picture was John Bawden.