Rev. Thomas Tregosse (alternate spellings: Tregrosse, Tregoss, Tregoose) (c. 17th century, St Ives,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

- c. 1670-71, Penryn, England) 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 ...

was a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

minister and

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of the Rebellion period who was silenced for being a

Nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

Early years

He was born in St Ives, the son of William Tregosse. He received his BA from Exeter College of Oxford University in 1655.

Career

After taking Holy Orders, he preached for two years as an English Presbyterian minister at St. Ives. In October 1659, he was instituted as vicar in Mylor and Mabe, and ejected 24 August 1662 under the Act of Uniformity for being a nonconformist. According to

Miss Susan Gay's Falmouth chronology A chronology of the town of Falmouth was described by Miss Susan E. Gay in ''Old Falmouth'' (1903), pages 230–238. Before the eighteenth century *9th century. Pendennis supposed to have been fortified by the Danes. *1120 The naming of Gyl ...

, Tregosse formed an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Congregation in Falmouth in 1662. At the first congregation at the

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

, Falmouth was gathered by the Reverend Mr. Tregoss. After preaching to this family and neighbours, Falmouth was jailed for three months.Olivey (1907), pp. 240 In 1663, he preached privately at Budock. For preaching at the Church of Saint Laud, Mabe, he was again jailed for three months at Launceston gaol (jail). After his release, he preached again at the same church, and was subsequently imprisoned again. Under the Conventicle Act of 1664 non-Anglican services were only permitted in private homes, limited to members of the household and no more than five others. Tregosse's imprisonment for holding a

Conventicle A conventicle originally signified no more than an assembly, and was frequently used by ancient writers for a church. At a semantic level ''conventicle'' is only a good Latinized synonym of the Greek word church, and points to Jesus' promise in M ...

at Budock is noted in "The Episcopal Returns of 1665-6" section of the Congregational Historical Society's ''Transactions''. After his fourth time in custody, he was set free September 1667 by special order of King Charles. He was jailed again in 1669 for preaching privately in a house at

Great Torrington Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same region) is a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to ...

. In his later years, he preached on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.Olivey (1907), pp. 241

Personal life

Tregosse married Margaret Sparnan of Gwynier in 1658, and had at least one child, a son, the Rev. James Tregoss. Though Tregosse was committed to Launceston Gaol on multiple occasions, Wesley bestowed high praises upon Tregosse a century later. Tregosse died in Penryn. Different sources place his date of death at different years in the 1670s: 18 January 1670, January 1672, 18 January 1673, or even 18 January 1679.Oxford Journals (1874), pp. 493 However,

Theophilus Gale Theophilus Gale (1628–1678) was an English educationalist, nonconformist and theologian of dissent. Early life Gale was born at Kingsteignton, Devon, the son of Bridget Gale (née Walrond) and Theophilus Gale D. D. (died 1639), vicar of Kingste ...

's biography, ''The life and death of Thomas Tregosse late minister of the Gospel at Milar and Mabe in Cornwal ic With his character, and some letters of his, not long before his death'', published in 1671, makes the year of death likely to be 1671 or earlier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tregosse, Thomas 1670s deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford People from St Ives, Cornwall People from Penryn, Cornwall 17th-century Presbyterian ministers English Presbyterian ministers of the Interregnum (England) Year of birth unknown

Early years

Career

Personal life

Further reading

References