Trehearn - the name

Including a brief history of the family

he first mention of the name Trehearn or, rather, one of it's variants, comes from the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth, the 12th century Bishop of St Asaph, North Wales, who extolled the virtues of the Britons in days gone by (notably King Arthur) in his 'own way'. Whilst devoting just a few lines to the famous King Constantine the Great (born in York at the end of the 3rd century AD), he gives a page or two to the comparatively unknown 'Kings' of the Britons (Geoffrey's writings are well known to be fanciful at times, so a 'pinch of salt' every now and then would be appropriate!).
One of these was Trahern, King of the Britons, who was said to have been the uncle of Helen the mother of Constantine the Great (b.c272) although other sources state Helen was 'a native of Bithynia'¹⁰. Trahern was eventually slain in battle by Octavius who also became King of the Britons (King, here, probably means Chief, as it was not until Athelstan in the 10th century that 'Britain' had a ruler that controlled all of the country, although there were separate 'kingdoms' described until the Normans arrived, such as Mercia, Northumbria, Wessex, etc).
Using the '30 year per generation' rule, one could assume Trahern flourished around 242-254AD.
It is to be noted, however, that Geoffrey wrote in a highly romantic manner, writing what he felt was true rather than what he knew to be fact, and being of British extraction endeavoured to 'praise the cause' more than was necessary. This is also borne out by the fact that no record for the source of his material can be traced!¹ One must, therefore, view the above as legend rather than fact! John Morris, in his book 'The Age of Arthur', suggests Geoffrey's work was a deliberate spoof.

The second time I personally came across the name of Trehearn is on reading some of the Welsh Annals. In 1081 at the Battle of Mynydd Carn (now a lost site, but probably in Pembrokeshire), Trahaearn ap Caradog was slain and 'sliced as bacon'⁶ by Gruffydd ap Cynan. Trahaearn was Prince of Arwystli² and based at Llanidloes (other writings describe him variously as King of North Wales, King of Powys, Prince of Gwynedd, and so on) taking this title at the expense of his relative Bleddyn in whose death he, no doubt, had an interest and, probably, a hand.
The line of Trahaearn ap Caradog can, by a circuitous route, be traced down to the modern royal family.
The coat of arms of Trahaearn ap Caradoc was 3 fleur de lys on a black shield.

The first time I came across the name in English records was in the Herefordshire Parish Records where David, the son of John Treherne and Joan was buried in Lugwardine near Hereford in 1540. John Trahayron, the husband of Margaret Matthews, may have been the father of John Trehearne who died in 1571 at Lugwardine, Herefordshire (husband of Joan), and predates David.

Variations: There are many ways to spell the family name and this is probably due to the illiteracy of the people of the times. If you can think of a way to spell the name, it could well mean it has been used at some point. If the owner of the name could not read or write, it was left to others to record and if the owner also had a very broad accent an even more preposterous recording may have been made.
A few of the more common variations are;
Trehearne, Traherne, Trihorne, Trahorne, Treharne, Trehern, Trahern, Trahayron, Tryearn.

he precise meaning of the name is a little ambiguous - one source giving Tre 'a farm, homestead or settlement near an ironworks' (hearn)⁴ Cornish in origin, another gives 'man of iron'³ and possibly of Welsh origin. Surnamedb.com suggests the name is of Old English, pre-7th century origins.

Commonly, the prefix Tra (as in Traherne) is found in Wales and Tre (as in Trehe(a)rn) is to be found in Cornwall (Kernow in the Cornish tongue) and the south-west of England. The similarity of Welsh, Cornish and Breton names is not surprising as the languages all stem from the same Celtic origin¹².

I have been told of a Cornish saying - "By 'Tre', 'Pol' or 'Pen', you can tell Cornish men" - the explanation being that if their name began with those syllables, the person is most likely to have Cornish ancestors^{11 (& refs below)}. Further investigation reveals the saying is fairly well known and can be expanded thus; "By Tre, Ros, Pol, Lan, Caer and Pen You may know most Cornishmen" (Camden).

'A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames' by Charles Wareing Bardsley notes that Treherne, Trehearne, Treharne is baptismal "The son of Trahern, an ancient Welsh personal name as Trahern ap Caradoc, Prince of North Wales, 1073".

TRAHERN, King of the Britons? (fl. AD254, see above)

TRAHAEARN AP CARADOG, Prince of Arwystli (d.1081, see below).

Sir Henry TREHEARNE, Knight at the Battle of Poitiers (1356) serving under the Black Prince (reference lost).⁷

Brydydd Mawr TRAHAEARN, Poet of the first half of the 14th century associated with Merioneth (from a
poem by an unknown author which said he was a North Walian singing in the south).⁸

Thomas TRAHERNE, Poet, author of 'Centuries of Meditations' and others (c1637-9 to 1674). Published in the 1990s by Penguin Books.⁵
It is suggested that Thomas Traherne was the son of Philipp Traherne (1568-1645), Innkeeper and Mayor of Hereford, who was born in Hereford. Philipp was married three times and his last marriage to Mary (or Marie) Lane was in 1638 when Philipp was 70 years of age. It is from this union that Thomas was presumed to have been born. Although it was not unknown for Traherne fathers to be in their 'senior years' when their children were born, the aforesaid is conjecture.
Thomas studied at Brasenose College, Oxford and gained his B.A. in 1656, M.A. in 1661 & B.D. in 1669. In 1657 he took up the post of Rector of St Mary's, Credenhill in Herefordshire and later became, in 1667, Chaplain to Sir Orlando Bridgman, the Lord Keeper of the King's Great Seal.
Thomas was the author of several pieces during his studies including 'Roman Forgeries', 'Christian Ethicks' and 'Centuries of Meditations'. Most of these writings were lost for about 230 years or so, discovered only at the beginning of the 20th century and published in 1958 by H.M. Margoliouth.
At the home of Sir Orlando Bridgman in 1674, Thomas died of smallpox and was buried in the Parish Church at Teddington, Middlesex.⁷

John Montgomery TRAHERNE 1788-1860. Born 5th October at Coedriglan near Cardiff. Most distinguished Glamorgan antiquarian of his time, son of Llewellyn Traherne who inherited the Coedriglan estate. Educated at Oriel, Oxford 1807, graduated 1810. Ordained a Deacon 1812 and priest 1813. Chancellor of Llandaff 1844-51. Married 23 April 1830 to Charlotte Louisa, 3rd daughter of Thomas Mansel Talbot, Margam. Died at Coedriglan without issue 5th February 1860. Many manuscripts were passed to his friend Sir Thomas Phillipps and are now in the Cardiff Central Library.

Bartholomew TRAHERON c1510-c1558. Protestant writer, he was descended from an ancient Cornish family and said to be a native of Cornwall. Said to be son of George Traheron who was placed on commission for Herefordshire in 1523 and died soon after. Bartholomew began a Friar Minorite before 1527. Said to have belonged to Exeter College or Hart Hall, but his name does not appear on their registers. Subsequently moved to Cambridge and graduated B.A. in 1533 still a Friar Minorite. Joined Bullinger at Zurich, September 1537. 1538, living at Strasbourg. 1539, Cromwell took him into service. May 1542, accredited with an 'intention to marry a lady with 120 florins income  and keep a grammar school for boys'. 1546, with Calvin at Geneva. 1548, returned to England. 14th December 1549, appointed Keeper of the Kings Library with a salary of 20 marks on Cheke's recommendation. This was until Mary's accession. February 1549/50, tutor to the young Duke of Suffolk at Cambridge. Probably died at Wesel in 1558. Daughter Magdalen married Thomas Bowyer of Leythorne, Sussex.

Trahaearn ap Caradog d.1081
King of Gwynedd. Said to be son of Caradog ap Gwyn ap Collwyn and a cousin of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn.
By natural right ruler of Arwystli, between 1075 and 1081. Bold and ambitious, usurped regal powers over an extensive area at moments when the fortunes of the major dynasties were at a low ebb. On Bleddyn's death (1075) he seized authority in Gwynedd.
Challenged by Gruffudd ap Cynan (representative of the old Venedotian house), he was defeated at Dyffryn Glyngin in Meirionydd, but later drove Gruffudd into a second exile in Ireland by winning at Bron yr Erw.
In 1078 he invaded South Wales and killed it's king, Rhys ab Owain, at Goodwick.
Gruffudd and Rhys ap Tewdwr joined forces and defeated Trahaearn at the famous battle of Mynydd Carn in 1081, in which Trahaearn died leaving four sons, Meurig, Griffri, Llywarch and Owain. His descendants ruled in Arwystli until it was absorbed into Powys by Gwenwynwyn in 1197. Gwenwynwyn succeeded his father in 1195 as Lord of Powys and died in exile in 1216.
A grand-daughter of Trahaearn, Gwladus, married Owain Gwynedd whose son , Iorwerth Drwyndwn, was father of Llewelyn the Great.⁸

ometime during the 15th or 16th century many of the parish records of Hereford were lost, possibly as a result of a fire at the Cathedral. It is, therefore, quite difficult to follow the line of Trehearn(e). Geographically, Hereford is situated at 'fork of the road' into Wales and into the south west of England and, without a continuous record, the task of deciding which road to take becomes somewhat tricky as the name, in various forms, is quite abundant in both places. The variant Traherne is commonly found in Wales (but not always). Trehern and Trehearne is frequently used in Gloucestershire and Cornwall.

As mentioned previously, the first recorded 'member' of my family was David Trehern, the son of John and Joan Trehearne, who was buried at Lugwardine, Herefordshire in 1540. John was resident at the manor of  Middle Court on Lugwardine Common from at least 1550 and this was the home of the Trahernes until 1801, a span of 250 years. It is probable that from the earliest times they were yeoman farmers and this was certainly so of John's grandson, Richard. They also owned land in and around Hereford and Worcestershire which they farmed or rented out, as demonstrated in the wills of Richard, his son John and of his great-grandson John.

By the late 17th or early to mid-18th century, my branch of the family had moved to Cradley, Herefordshire (not to be confused with Cradley Heath near Birmingham) where they probably continued farming the land for some time. John, the great-grandson of Richard, was baptised and died there. John's son, Anthony, was baptised there in 1788 but later moved to Kidderminster in Worcestershire, probably shortly after his marriage to Elizabeth Brewster in 1822.

It was during Anthony's time that the family business of farming came to an end as, in 1828, he is described as a Currier of Lion Street, Kidderminster in Pigot's Directory of the time. A currier is one who cures leather and the related trades of leather dyeing, leather selling, pumpmaking, bootmaking and selling all featured as occupations of various members of the family until the late 19th century and, possibly, into the early 20th century (a 'pump' being a ladies shoe). It appears this line of work flourished as, in 1861, William, Anthony's son, was described in the 1861 census returns as 'employing 4 men and 2 boys', being a currier and pump maker. The family stayed in Kidderminster at various addresses for perhaps 60 or 70 years.

The next residences appeared to be in Lancashire. The 1891 census does not list the family at 13 High Street, Kidderminster where William's grandson, George Ellis, was born in 1888, but in the 1901 census George Ellis appears as living in Burns Street, Oldham. From 1915 he was employed by 'Englands Smart Shoes' as a Boot and Shoe Shop Manager until 1964 when he retired. He moved to Manchester and, in 1915, married Ellen Kirby a native of Liverpool. It appeared he moved with his family between Liverpool and Manchester at various times in between service during WWI. He eventually settled in Sheffield, Yorkshire from 1938 ('Englands' had opened a branch there at that time) and lived there until his death in 1976. George's son, Neville, was born in Sheffield, had various jobs of work until WWII where he served in Europe. Following his marriage to Doris Jackson in 1948 he became a salesman driver for 'Walls Ices' and latterly 'Mothers Pride Bakery' until his retirement. He had moved just a few miles away to Rotherham, Yorkshire.

So the family of Trehearn had, like many others, moved from the rural way of living of the Cotswolds to the industrial life of the north in a matter of 450 years through 13 recorded generations.

References;
1. The History of the Kings of Britain, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Trans. L. Thorpe, Penguin Books 1973
2. Brut Y Twysogion (Chronicles of the Princes. Incl. The Red Book of Hergest) J.E. Lloyd 1929
3. Dictionary of National Biography 1903
4. A Dictionary of Surnames, Reaney
5. Various sources.
6. A Medieval Prince of Wales: The Life of Gruffydd ap Cynan, D. Simon Evans, Llanerch Press (facsimile)
7. V. E. Purslow, correspondence & 'Centuries of Traherne Families', 1981-90
8. Extract from a 'Dictionary of Welsh Biography Down to 1940' Eds. John Edward Lloyd, Jenkins, Wm. Llewelyn Davies, Margaret Beatrice Davies. Under the auspices of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion.
    B.H. Blackwell Ltd., Broad Street, Oxford. (Rotherham Library).
9. Extract from a 'Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. XIX' Ed. Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee.
10. Henry of Huntingdon states Helen was the daughter of King Cole (Coel) of Colchester. Llanerch Press
11. As told to a contact of mine (with thanks) by a Cornishman. See also; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_surnames, http://members.ozemail.com.au/~kevrenor/csnames.htm, http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kernow/index.htm. http://www.libraryireland.com/articles/CelticSurnames/index.php (final paragraph). There are many others.
12. Possibly derived from Gaelic when the Irish (known as the Dalriada Scots) moved into south western (present day) Scotland before Cunedda moved to Wales. From the early to mid-5th century onwards, there were migrations to Cornwall (Kernow) and to the north west of France (Brittany) for various reasons including famine, displacement due to warring factions, and so on. The language transformed into Brythonic Celtic over a period of time. Various sources.