John Tremayne (1825–1901) was a member of a landed family in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, and owner of the

Heligan estate The Heligan estate (; kw, Helygen, meaning willow tree) was the ancestral home of the Tremayne family near Mevagissey in Cornwall, England. Purchased by Sampson Tremayne in 1569, the present house was built in 1692 and extended in the early 19t ...

near

Mevagissey Mevagissey (; kw, Lannvorek) is a village, fishing port and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

. At various times, he was a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament for the constituencies of East Cornwall and

South Devon South Devon is the southern part of Devon, England. Because Devon has its major population centres on its two coasts, the county is divided informally into North Devon and South Devon.For exampleNorth DevonanSouth Devonnews sites. In a narrower se ...

, and High Sheriff of Cornwall. He was also the third of four successive members of the Tremayne family who are credited with the creation of the gardens around Heligan House that are now well known as the

Lost Gardens of Heligan The Lost Gardens of Heligan ( kw, Lowarth Helygen, meaning "willow tree garden") are located near Mevagissey in Cornwall, England and are considered to be amongst the most popular in the UK. The gardens are typical of the 19th century ...

Birth and early life

John Tremayne was born 15 April 1825, the son of Caroline and

John Hearle Tremayne John Hearle Tremayne (17 March 1780 – 27 August 1851) was a member of a landed family in the English county of Cornwall, and owner of the Heligan estate near Mevagissey. He was a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament for ...

. His mother's brother was Sir

Charles Lemon Sir Charles Lemon, 2nd Baronet (3 September 1784 – 13 February 1868) was a British Member of Parliament for several constituencies and a baronet. Early life He inherited his baronetcy in 1824 upon the death of his father Sir William Lemon, 1s ...

, who left his estate at

Carclew Carclew House, one of Britain's lost houses, was a large Palladian country house near Mylor in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was situated at approximately three miles north of Falmouth. Carclew House was for some generations owne ...

to John Tremayne's brother,

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

. His other siblings, Henry, Mary, and Harriet married into other gentry or noble families. In his teens, John Tremayne contracted a crippling bone disease that left him reliant on crutches for the rest of his life. As convalescence, he was consigned to the care of a Charlestown mariner, with instructions to take him to sea every day, irrespective of the weather. He was educated at a private school at

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

Eton School Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, and Christ Church College at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

.''The Times'', Friday, 12 April 1901; pg. 8; Issue 36427; col F "Comment on Obituary from a correspondent."

Heligan

John Tremayne inherited the

from his father in 1851. Like his father, John was a keen gardener. He was particularly fond of hybridizing

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

s, and is credited with much of the planting around Flora's Green in the north of what is now the Lost Gardens of Heligan. John Tremayne also inherited an estate at

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

shire.

Politics and other offices

John Tremayne was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for the East Cornwall parliamentary constituency in 1874 and represented that constituency until he was defeated in 1880. He then sat for the South Devon parliamentary constituency from 1884 to 1885. In both cases, he sat on the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

benches. In addition to his parliamentary service, John Tremayne was a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and, in 1859, High Sheriff of Cornwall. He served as chairman of the North Cornwall Railway Company.

Marriage and children

In 1860, John Tremayne married the Hon. Mary Charlotte Vivian, daughter of Lord Vivian of Glynn.A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain 1863, p.1535: Tremayne descent. In 1863, one daughter of the marriage was reported- Onera Mary Georgina
/ref> They had two sons, Perys Edmund, born 1866, died 1867, and John Claude Lewis, born 1869 and better known as "Jack", and three daughters. *John Claude married Eleanor, the daughter of Jonathan Rashleigh of Menabilly. They later divorced; no children resulted from this marriage.''Olivey's History of Mylor''
*Onera Mary (died 10 October 1936) *Harriet Maud *Grace Damaris Matilda, married 1889, Charles Babington, Esq.Details of the daughters fro
''The history of the Treman, Tremaine, Truman family in America''
/ref>

Death

John Tremayne died in the spring of 1901 at

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

.''The Times'', Tuesday, 9 April 1901; pg. 3; Issue 36424; col E - "Obituary"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tremayne, John 1825 births 1901 deaths Politicians from Cornwall Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English gardeners UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 People from St Ewe People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall High Sheriffs of Cornwall Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for South Devon