The manor of Fentongolland, which extends into the parish of Merther, is said to have belonged at an early period to a family of the same name, from whom it passed by a succession of female heirs, to the families of Trejago and Trenoweth. John Trenoweth, who died in 1497, left four daughters, coheirs. The eldest, Philippa, brought this manor to John Carminow, of Resprin, (a younger branch of the Carminows, of Carminow,) who became, in consequence of this match, as Mr. Hals says, “more famous for his wealth than any other of his name or house, or than any other family in Cornwall.” Thomas, son of this John Carminow, was gentleman of the privy chamber to King Henry the Eighth. Hals, speaking of the hospitality of John Carminow, the grandson, says, “That he kept open house for all comers and goers, drinkers, minstrels, dancers, and what not, during Christmas time; and that his usual allowances of provisions for these twelve days were twelve fat bullocks, sixty statute bushels of wheat, thirty-six sheep, with hogs, lambs, and fowls of all sorts, and drink made of wheat and oat malt proportionable, for
at that time barley malt was little known or used in those parts.”
Oliver Carminow, son of this John, is said to have squandered away the greater part of his very valuable estates. He left two daughters, married to Salter and Cole, by whom this manor was sold, in the year 1600, to the Holcombes. Sir Nicholas Hals purchased this estate in 1603, and made Fentongollan his residence; his son sold it to Ezekiel Grosse, whose daughter and heiress brought this and several other estates to Francis Buller, Esq. of Shillingham. It was purchased of that family about the year 1676, by Hugh Boscawen, Esq. who soon afterwards pulled down the fine old mansion-house of the Carminows, with its lofty towers and chapel. A farm-house now occupies the site.
Tregothnan, the seat of Lord Viscount Falmouth, came to the Boscawens in marriage with the heiress of Tregothnan in the fourteenth century.
Treganyan, or Tregonian, formerly the seat of a family bearing the same name, passed by successive female heirs to the Haleps and Sayers; by bequest from the latter to Trevelyan; and by a coheiress of Trevelyan to Rowe. It was purchased of the Rowes by Mr. George Simmons, who conveyed it to Lord Falmouth. The barton-house is now occupied by a farmer.
Nancarrow, in this parish, was also the property of a family to whom it gave its name.
The family of Boscawen is unquestionably of very great antiquity, of Norman or British origin, having either imparted their name to Boscawen Rose, in St. Burian, or received it from that place.
The peninsula west of the Mount’s Bay, little frequented in former ages, and scarcely accessible to strangers, abounded, as all similar districts have been found to do, with long settled possessors of landed property; who, content with the small fortunes transmitted from their ancestors,
lived on in succession the protectors, the benefactors, and the paternal governors of their neighbourhoods. Such were the Boscawens, Vyvyans, Levelas, Trevilians, Noyes, and perhaps Usticks, Davieses, Kegwins, and some others, all inhabitants for centuries of this remote portion of Cornwall, and all arranged on similar scales of property and influence. The Boscawens however emerged in the fourteenth century, and pursued with great perseverance and success the only path then leading to advancement in the world. They married heiress after heiress, and acquired extensive properties in various parts of the county.