John Michell, MP, of Truro

Family and Education 1st son of John Michell of St. Columb by Alice, da. of Pole Beauchamp of Somerset.

Married: Jane, da. of John Killigrew, sister of Henry, John I and William Killigrew, 7s. 3da.1

Offices Held: Mayor, Truro in 1584.2

Member of Parliament for Truro in 1563

[Recorded during the visitation of the College of Arms in 1620]

John Michell Esquire of Truro, Manor of Harlyn in St. Merryn and Treworra in Davidstow. Merchant, owner of the ship "Magdalen of Truro". Mayor in 1562. Member of Parliament for borough of Truro 1562-63

In 1545 John contributed the large sum of 40s to Henry VIII fund for defence of the realm.

In 1569 he appears in the Muster to Arms with Hugh Trevanion, John Carminow, Nicholas Boscawen, Thomas Roscarrock and John Treffrey, all of them providing horse and armor.

Other names to appear among those who contributed to the benevolence in the "Trerow Burgh" were Drew Mychel - 6s 8d and Jenkins Michel's of St. Mabyn, Lanivet, and Perranzabuloe also contributed at this time.

In Donavan's book he mentions 'In 1606 Subsidy Returns for the parish of St. Merryn it can be seen that John Michell of Harlyn paid £10, a comparative large sum in tax for this period.

The name Tregewe appears in various parish registers and one wonders if this is a corruption of Tregoys. In 1615 a marriage was recorded in the Kenwyn church registers at Truro when on 8 July, John Michell was married to Margaret Tregewe.

Donovan's chart states:- John MICHELL Esquire of Truro, Harlyn and Treworra in Davidstow. Mayor of Truro and Falmouth 1562/3 and 1573.

NOTE- May 2006- At this stage here seems to be a question as to the correct information regarding John and Jane's family. The first five names (John, James Alice Radrigund and Anne ) were listed on "The visitation of the County of Cornwall", page 142. The other names which are recorded here do not appear in this listing. KJM. Also I have listed the family of Michell of Kingston Russell under Robert, b1550, mainly because I feel at this time that they are descendants of John and Jane. This theory has to be checked out as soon as possible. KJM.

Source:- Ken Michell Australia

I have followed Kens assumptions for the time being, until proved otherwise. IKM

Biography

Michell, who came of an old Cornish family, with branches at Truro, Liskeard, Harlyn, St. Neot and Bodmin, was a merchant who combined trade with piracy, like his relatives the Killigrews. The first known reference found to him is as captain of the Maudlyn of Truro in May 1537. The deputy searcher of the port reported to the Council that he had boarded the ship, which was bound for Lantregar in Brittany with ‘a company of riotous persons feigning a pope holy pilgrimage’. Michell and his crew first knocked him overboard and then carried him off to Brittany, where he was shouldered and buffeted by the inhabitants, egged on by his captors, ‘as though he had been a Turk or a Saracen’. It took him three weeks to find a ship to carry him back to England.3

By the early part of Elizabeth’s reign Michell was wealthy enough to have obtained the manor of Killigrew, in St. Erme, the ancestral estate of the Killigrews, but about 1568 he suffered heavy losses at sea. In 1587 several members of his family were involved in a lawsuit brought by Stephen Nicholas or Nantsmere, who alleged that he had been wrongfully evicted from his farm, imprisoned and put in the stocks at Truro by ‘Hugh and John Michell, gentlemen’, probably the MP’s sons, and one William Roberts. The Council asked Peter Edgecombe to inquire into the matter. This younger John was the capital burgess and first steward of the town appointed by the charter of 1589. Another son, Peter, was a sea captain who sailed round the world with Drake.4

Michell died intestate before 21 June 1588, when letters of administration were granted to his son Hugh. On the following day Hugh received a similar grant for a brother, Thomas.5

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603 Author: N. M. Fuidge Notes 1. Vivian, Vis. Cornw. 268, 322. 2. C219/29/31. 3. J. Allen, Hist. Liskeard, 486-7; LP Hen. VIII, xii(2), pp. 476-7. 4.Jnl. R. Inst. Cornw. xiv. 211-12; SP12/47, f. 155; APC, xv. 206-7; Vivian, 322. 5. PCC admon. act bk. 1588, f. 65v.

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• John MICHELL, Esq.
• Birth 1530 Truro, Cornwall. England
• Father John MICHELL, b. 1514, Of St. Collomb, Cornwall. England
• Mother Alice BEAUCHAMP, b. 1518, St Columb Major, Cornwall. England
• Family Jane KILLIGREW, b. 1535, Stockland, Dorsetshire. England , d. 1574, Truro,Cornwall. England Married approx 1558 Stockland, Dorsetshire. England
• Children
  • 1. John MICHELL, b. 1566, Of Truro, Cornwall. England , d. 1622
  • 2. James MICHELL, Esq., b. 1566, Of Truro, Cornwall. England , d. 16 Aug 1628
  • 3. Alice MICHELL, b. approx 1560
  • 4. Anne MICHELL, b. Abt 1559, Truro, Cornwall. England , d. 31 Jan 1606/07, Branscombe, Devon. England
  • 5. Robert MICHELL, b. 1570, d. 1622
  • 6. Thomas MICHELL, b. 1570, Truro, Cornwall. England
  • 7. Henry MICHELL, b. 1572, Truro, Cornwall. England , d. 1632
  • 8. Peter MICHELL, b. 1574, Truro, Cornwall. England
  • 9. Hugh MICHELL, b. 1561, Truro, Cornwall. England , d. 1615
  • 10. Rudigund MICHELL
• From: http://www.devon-mitchells.co.uk/getperson.php?personID=I897&tree=C...

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References

1. http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=rwfurtaw&... dead link
2. The Visitations of Cornwall, Pedigree of Michell, Page 142 < Archive.Org >
3. http://www.devon-mitchells.co.uk/getperson.php?personID=I897&tree=C...