Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 3rd Baronet (24 March 1650 – 19 July 1721) was Bishop of Bristol,

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...

and

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. Trelawny is best known for his role in the events leading up to the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

which are sometimes believed to be referenced in the Cornish anthem " The Song of the Western Men".

Life

He was born at Trelawne in the parish of Pelynt, Cornwall, the eldest surviving son of Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 2nd Baronet, and Mary Seymour, daughter of Sir Edward Seymour, 2nd Baronet. He was educated at

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and then went to

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at the start of the Michaelmas term of 1668 where he distinguished himself as a scholar. A staunch royalist, he was ordained in 1673 and became a beneficed clergyman. He was appointed rector of South Hill on 4 October and of St. Ives on 12 December 1677, becoming Bishop of Bristol in 1685. He was one of the

Seven Bishops The Seven Bishops were members of the Church of England tried and acquitted for seditious libel in the Court of Kings Bench in June 1688. The very unpopular prosecution of the bishops is viewed as a significant event contributing to the Novemb ...

tried for seditious libel under James II. Trelawny and the other bishops petitioned against James II's Declaration of Indulgence in 1687 and 1688, (granting

religious tolerance Religious tolerance or religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, ...

to Catholics) and as a result, he was arrested and imprisoned in the

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on charges of seditious libel. The bishops said that whilst they were loyal to King James II, their consciences would not agree to allowing freedom of worship to Catholics even if it were to be within the privacy of their own homes as the Declaration proposed; thus they could not sign. Trelawny was held for three weeks before trial, then tried and acquitted; this led to great celebrations, with bells being rung in his home parish of Pelynt. Trelawny was rewarded in 1689 by being appointed Bishop of Exeter (whilst still, until 1694, Archdeacon of Totnes) after the military defeat of James II and the accession of the Protestant William of Orange to the British throne. He was further rewarded by being appointed

in 1707, although his promotion was a matter of some controversy, as Queen Anne, who was determined to keep all important Church appointments within her own gift, overruled the advice of her ministers and of Thomas Tenison, the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

in appointing him, thus provoking the so-called Bishoprics Crisis. He died in 1721, in Chelsea,

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; his body was taken back to Pelynt for burial.

Family

He married Rebecca Hele, by whom he had twelve children: *Charlotte Trelawny (1687/8 – aft. 1745), unmarried *Letitia Trelawny (born 1689), married Sir Harry Trelawny, 5th Baronet * Sir John Trelawny, 4th Baronet (1691–1756) *Henry Trelawny (1692–1707), fought in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

and died with Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell aboard HMS ''Association'' during the Scilly naval disaster of 1707.James Herbert Cooke, The Shipwreck of Sir Cloudesley Shovell on the Scilly Islands in 1707, From Original and Contemporary Documents Hitherto Unpublished, Read at a Meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, London, 1 Feb. 1883
/ref> *Charles Trelawny (1694 – 24 August 1721), without issue, prebendary of Westminster *Rebecca Trelawny (1696–1743), married John Francis Buller in 1716 *Elizabeth Trelawny (1697 – 25 January 1744), married Rev. George Allanson (died 1741), Archdeacon of Cornwall * Edward Trelawny (1699–1754), became governor of Jamaica *Mary Trelawny (born 1700), died in infancy *Rev. Hele Trelawny (1703–1740), without issue *Jonathan Trelawny (born 1705), died in infancy *Anne Trelawny (1707–1745), unmarried

Reputation

It is sometimes suggested that Bishop Trelawny was immortalised in the Cornish Anthem, " The Song of the Western Men", better known simply as "Trelawny", written over a century later and composed by Parson Robert Stephen Hawker, vicar of Morwenstow. :''And shall Trelawny live?'' :''Or shall Trelawny die!'' :''Here's twenty thousand Cornish men'' :''Will know the reason why!''

Notes

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