Richard Penkevell, MP

Family and Education 1st s. of Francis Penkevell (d.1622), of Roserrow by Katherine (d.1621), da. of Richard Roscarrock† of Roscarrock in St. Endellion. m. aft. 1590, Jane (d.1623), da. and h. of ?Hugh Pomeroy of Tregony, 8s. 3 or 4da.1

Offices Held

Biography The Penkevells had been established at St. Michael Penkivel, near Truro, since at least the time of Edward II, intermarrying with many of the leading Cornish families. Penkevell himself appears seldom in the records of local affairs as he died before succeeding to his estates. Interested in voyages of exploration, he was in 1607 granted a licence for seven years to discover the passage to China, Cathay, the Moluccas and other regions of the East Indies. He was a member of the ‘Colleagues of the fellowship for the discovery of the North West passage’, who promoted Henry Hudson’s last voyage in 1610, and in July 1612 he is mentioned with Peter, Benjamin, Nicholas and Digory Penkevell among members of a company for the discovery of the North West passage. His return to Parliament for Tregony may be attributed to his family’s local influence and, no doubt, friendship with the Pomeroy family, into which he married shortly afterwards. Penkevell died v.p. in 1616. The estates passed to his son in 1622, but were lost before the end of the century.2

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603 Author: Irene Cassidy Notes 1. Vivian, Vis. Cornw. 414-16; J. Maclean Trigg Minor, iii. 70-4. 2. Carew, Surv. Cornw. (1811 ed.), 338; C. S. Gilbert, Hist. Surv. Cornw. ii. 225; Anon. Paroch. Hist. Cornw. i. 284, 381; iii. 353; D. Gilbert, Paroch. Hist. Cornw. i. 297, 420; ii. 336; iii. 214; CSP Dom. 1603-10, p. 344; CSP Col. ii. 146, 240.