Catherine, married to John Raynwood, and secondly to Edmund Stradling, of Dunlery.
Margaret, to John Godolphin, of Godolphin; and between these his large inheritance was divided.
But this lordship, with many adjacent estates, came entire to Philippa, his eldest daughter and coheir, the wife of John Carminow, esq. whose posterity lived here in great splendour, and went by the name of the great Carminows.
John Carminow, of Fentongollan, was Sheriff of Cornwall in the fifth year of Henry the Eighth. His son, Thomas Carminow, was a gallant courtier and gentleman of the privy chamber to the same king; but his grandson, Oliver Carminow, put a final end to the greatness of his family, having squandered away a vast estate, no less it is said than eight thousand pounds a year of actual receipts, leaving two daughters coheirs to what remained.
Ann, married to William Salter, of Devonshire.
Margaret, to Philip Cole, also of Devonshire, who sold this lordship to one Mr. Holcomb, in the latter part of
Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The Carminow family was, however, continued through George, younger brother to Oliver, who lived at Polmawgan, in St. Winnow, as his posterity did at Trehanick, in St. Teath, where the last male of this family died, in the reign of King Charles the Second.
Mr. Holcomb sold this place in the reign of James the First to Sir Nicholas Hals, who resided here. His son John Hals, parted with it to Ezekiel Grosse, esq. whose daughter carried this, together with sixteen other manors, to the family of Buller, of Shillingham; and Francis Buller sold it in King Charles the Second’s reign to Hugh Boscawen, esq. who pulled down this noble old mansion, the lofty tower and fine chapel, and carried the stones to build his new house at Tregothnan, so that not a footstep is to be seen of this once magnificent place, and a poor farm-house is built for a tenant in its stead.
Under Fentongollan is a passage or ferry boat to go to Truro, and likewise to Kea, which is called Mopas; this place was formerly famous for oysters, which are now spoiled by the vessels that carry off the copper ore, which vessels, lying generally at this place, and pumping up the poisonous water from the ore, let in by leakage, have infected them with a strong brassy taste, so that eating a few of them will make any one ill; and yet, what is very remarkable, the oysters themselves grow large and fatten as well as ever.
Adjoining to Fentongollan is Treganyan, which I take to be a contraction of Tre-gan-ythan, the fursy town on the downs: however, its present plight may be better. This was anciently the seat of the family of Sayer.