Family History Page

Compiled by Ken Trevathan

10-Mar-2008

I

---

Welcome to the TREVETHAN TREVATHAN family history site.

This is a new site and is being added to regularly. Over the coming months I hope to release my complete 400 plus page book on the history of the Trevethan Trevathan family on this site.

This is the history of the ancient Cornish family now spread the world over. No matter where you live in the world if you are interested in the Trevethan or Trevathan family this site has a host of information for you.

For New Zealanders it gives the history's for the descendants of the family of Thomas, Emma, David, Maria, and Polly Trevethan. This family of five young people came to New Zealand last century and now we have more than one thousand descendants from these brothers and sisters. Included is information about the first wife of David Trevethan, the first wife of Thomas Trevethan and his daughter from that marriage, Elizabeth Trevethan. Living in the Auckland area of New Zealand at the present time is a family by the name of Trevarthen and a little of their early history is also included.

I have been researching this family for more than forty years and, as with all family histories, the research is never finished. The first edition of my book was produced for the benefit of close members of my own family as a Christmas present, but the demand for this book has come from near and far. This keen interest prompted me to produce a second edition, followed by a third, fourth and  fifth. More than two hundred and fifty books have found their way to the four corners of the world. Some to Australia, England and even the United States of America.

This internet site contains a lot of extra information, extra family trees, many new photos, but most of all it includes a large new section on the very early days of our family in Cornwall. As you read this section you will be able to visualize what the early days in Cornwall were like and visit the villages and houses the early Trevethan’s lived in. Much of this information, photos and interesting maps were provided by two professional researchers in Cornwall, Bernadette Fallon and Mark Johnson. I was fortunate in August of 1990 and July of 1994 to be able to personally visit this most interesting area of Cornwall, and in two short weeks collected a lot of further information. It is still as important today as it was when I produced my first book, to commit this information to paper so as to ensure the facts are kept for prosterity.

Also new to this site is the section on the origination of the Trevathan name and some very interesting information on two Trevethan coats of arms which belong to our family, plus some others used by families with names spelt similar to ours. Read also about the voyage from England to New Zealand. Find out about the Trevathan family in America, Canada and Australia.

When I first wrote my book DNA was unknown but now this modern tool has found a place in family research. Recent tests show that as a result of testing my own DNA that my Trevathan line is complete back to Cornwall and then down to one line of the American family of Trevethan. Bernard Trevethan of America and I are 5th cousins. The test however also showed that I am not related to the main American Trevathan line which was quite a surprise.

Although I have been very careful to ensure that there are no errors in the family trees many of the entries are from the memories of members of the families. If when reading this site you find any errors or missing facts please contact me at ken.trevathan@trevethan.net so that corrections may be made.

Although a great number of relations have contributed to the information on this site, a very special thanks needs to go to the late Mary Kitto from Tarras, Otago, New Zealand who had collected from near and far a good many of the photos added to the second and fourth editions of my book. A further collection of photos from a collection belonging to the late Flo Betts of Dunedin, New Zealand fell into my hands a few years ago and many are included on this site. Many of the photos of Cornwall were taken by me on my visit in August 1990. Mrs. Conney Periam from Cromwell, Otago has also provided a lot of local history and put me in touch with a number of other people who were able to add small parts to this now complete site. I am also indebted to Mrs. Donna Bettis, Mrs. Ruth Delvige and Mr. Bill Utley from the United States of America and Mr Laurie Turtle from Australia for providing information on their lines of the family.

So sit back and enjoy reading this history and remember if you have any old photos or further information on your family I would be grateful to receive it.

Ken Trevathan

Other interesting sites with information about the Trevethan Trevathan family:-

The Cornish in Latin America www.projects.ex.ac.uk/cornishlatin/index.php 

Vernon Trevathan's web site www.trevathan.info

Padstow Quay -from Malc McCarthy's collection

You are visitor No