Wadham House
The following is a short history of Wadham House, a far more detailed version will appear in the 2023 follow up to ‘A Peek into Liskeard’s Past. George Wadham, was Mayor of Liskeard for three terms and in his Will, dated January 20th 1686, he bequeathed to ten poor people of the Borough twenty shillings every Christmas Eve, and ten shillings every Whitsun Eve. George was a distant ancestor of Benjamin Hart Lyne who built his Grade II Listed home in Church Street South in 1830, which he named Wadham House. In 1908 Lyne’s descendants benefited from a 93rd share of the vast fortune of their cousin Stephens Lyne Stephens, said to have been the wealthiest commoner in England, each share was the present day equivalent of £500,000. On October 12th 1848, Wadham was offered for sale for the highest bid of over £850. The highest bidder was William B. Sanders, who soon established the East Cornwall College at Wadham. When John Wonnacott was the Schoolmaster, in 1881, he had 34 Scholars boarding with 3 teachers and 3 servants also living-in. His advertising promised that ‘the pupils are thoroughly grounded, and carefully prepared for Professional and Commercial pursuits, and for Competitive and other Examinations, while their physical and moral welfare is anxiously cared for’. In the Western Gazette on April 21st 1911 the following appeared, note the change of house name, ‘The William Henry Williams Home of Ladies. Holiday and Residential. Beautifully situated in own grounds. Good excursion centre. Terms moderate. Bella Vista, Liskeard, Cornwall.’ The Superintendent was Bertha Susan Martyn who, in the 1911 census, was aged 41 and living in the 23 roomed Bella Vista along with seven paying guests, all ladies aged over 64 and of ‘Private Means’, and two Housemaids. The County Council purchased Bella Vista in 1927 for £2,500 to accommodate some of the 1,046 patients in the overcrowded Cornwall Mental Hospital in Bodmin. During WWII Bella Vista became the Control Centre for Air Raid Precautions. In the Cornish Guardian on November 18th 1943, the Civil Defence advertised for ‘a clerk, male or female, salary up to £3 15s 0d per week’. In 1946 the Cornish Guardian reported that the ‘Cornwall Public Assistance Committee have adopted a recommendation that a Training School for assistant nurses be established at Bella Vista’. The cost of conversion from its previous use was £800, with a further £1,000 for additional furniture and equipment. Eventually, about 1966, the building was purchased by builders Messrs Jago and Williams, converted to apartments and reverted to its original name, Wadham House, as it is today.
The George Vaughan Ellis Memorial Trophy is awarded to Jackie Jenkins
The George Vaughan Ellis Memorial Trophy is awarded to an individual who has greatly contributed to preserving the heritage of Liskeard. The first recipient in 2017 was Liskeard OCS member Eileen Crouch. Next came Liskeard OCS President Brian Oldham in 2019. Yesterday evening at the Mayor Choosing Ceremony in Liskeard's Public Hall, Liskeard OCS Recorder Jackie Jenkins was presented with the fine crystal jug and stand by Mayor Simon Cassidy. All three were invited to the evening's proceedings.
Popup exhibition at Stuart House Museum in Liskeard
Lots of lovely visitors to the Liskeard Old Cornwall Society pop-up exhibition of archive photos in Stuart House Saturday morning April 9th 2022. Great to be sharing our local history in this way.
Rillaton Manor Boundary Stone No'5
Beating the Bounds - as well as sharing some Liskeard history
Liskeard OCS was happy to support new Mayor Simon Cassidy Beating the Bounds.
Well, have finally reached the Liskeard Tavern at the end of the ancient custom of Beating the Bounds 14.7 miles around the Liskeard Boundary. The ceremony of Beating the Bounds was originally carried out to establish that all was in order and that the Boundary Stones had not been moved. Huge thanks to all those who accompanied us and special thanks to Brian Oldham for keeping us informed of the history along the way, all the farming community who allowed us access across their land and Deborah and Jim at Treworgey Manor as well as those who manned our backup cars…
Liskeard Old Cornwall Society - Preserving & Sharing Knowledge
Liskeard Old Cornwall Society - Preserving & Sharing Knowledge
A new historical walk around Liskeard's Open Spaces was created by Liskeard Old Cornwall Society for the 2020 Heritage Open Days, branded locally as Liskeard Unlocked. Thanks to Liskeard Tourist Information Centre the walk is now available to download and/or print.
Click on the image to access the Liskeard Historic Walk pdf
Liskeard Old Cornwall Society - Preserving & Sharing Knowledge
Guided Tour
Part of Liskeard's contribution to the National Heritage Open Days 2020 were several videos to be seen on the Visit Liskeard website, including a virtual tour of Grade II listed No.3 Varley Terrace. This struck a chord with OCS Federation webmanager Ros Hayward, as one of the early occupiers was her 9th cousin four times removed, a distant relation but one Ros was keen to hear more of.
The gentleman is question was John Clymo Trewren who first appears in a Liskeard census in 1851 aged 4, with his mother Grace, sister of Peter Clymo the owner and Manager of the hugely successful South Caradon Mine, and his father Oliver, Agent at both South Caradon and Gonamena Mines. Brian Oldham, of Liskeard OCS arranged a mini-tour for Ros on September 26th and they met outside the rather grand Liskerrit House on The Parade, Liskeard. This was a later home of Grace, widowed at the early age of 44, and John, possibly benefiting from the death of his extremely rich but childless Uncle Peter, was a "Retired Bank Cashier" by 1881 at the age of only 34.
Next stop was No.3 Varley Terrace where we were able to view the ground floor rooms where, in 1861 Grace, John and 20 year old General Servant Hannah Uren were in residence. Here Ros was able to inspect the slate tile inscribed by her distant relation "J.TREWREN June 2nd 1858". Last stop was Lanchard Cemetery to view the family grave where Oliver, Grace and John are buried. John Clymo Trewren died a bachelor aged 73 on January 27th 1920. The photos are Liskerrit House in 1907, modern day Varley Terrace, the inscribed slate tile and the Trewren memorial.
Liskeard Old Cornwall Society - Preserving & Sharing Knowledge
Liskeard Members Research & Interests
Time spent during lockdown in 2020 was spent by many members of Old Cornwall societies carrying out projects that related to their various interests connected to their areas heritage. This project by Liskeard Old Cornwall Society member John Watts combined both and the story is told here in the Cornish Times. Click the image to read the story.
Liskeard Old Cornwall Society - Preserving & Sharing Knowledge
Liskeard’s Admiral George Lower (1815-1905)
On March 4th 2020 Liskeard OCS Archivist Jackie Jenkins gave a talk to over 100 Liskeard U3A members, assisted by President Brian Oldham on Power-point duty, about colourful local resident George Lower. A brief version of his story is given here.
A cottage in Doctors Lane, Liskeard was home to dairyman George Lower in both the 1871 and 1881 censuses. Later, at age 86, he was admitted to the Infirmary Wing of the Union Workhouse in Station Road, Liskeard. At this point George was widowed, he was crippled with rheumatism and had a badly injured leg.
The residents of the Workhouse were treated to George’s memories of sailing to the Artic in HMS Resolute in the 1850s, resulting in him being given the nickname Admiral Lower. The Resolute was one of several sailing ships whose mission was to locate Sir John Franklin who had gone missing in his search for the North West Passage.
The Resolute became trapped in the ice and was abandoned by her crew in 1854. An American Whaler recovered her two years later and she was presented to Queen Victoria in an attempt to calm the uneasy Anglo/American relations at the time.
Four desks were made from the Resolute’s timbers; a lady’s desk now in the New Bedford Whaling Museum, two writing desks for Royal yachts, one of which is in the National Museum for the Royal Navy, Portsmouth. And a large partner’s desk presented to US President Rutherford B. Hayes on November 23rd 1880. It’s still used today by US Presidents in the White House’s Oval House.
- Photo 1) HMS Resolute
- Photo 2) The desk in the Oval Office for work and play in 1963.
- Photo 3) The Union Workhouse in Station Road.
