(193) Arundell of Menadarva, Trengwainton, Kenegie and Lifton Park

Arundell of Menadarva

This branch of the wealthy and powerful Arundell family of Cornwall (who sometimes spelled their name Arundel, especially in the 18th and early 19th centuries) was founded by the provision made by Sir John Arundell of Trerice (d. 1561) for his eldest son by his second wife, Robert Arundell (d. 1580), who was born before his parents married, and whose younger brother inherited Trerice. Robert was left the Menadarva estate at Camborne. Robert was succeeded by his son, Christopher Arundell (fl. 1561-1604) and grandson, William Arundell (1584-1631), and the latter had a large family. While Menadarva passed to his eldest son, Ezekiel Arundell (1610-82), one of his younger sons, Francis Arundell (c.1620-97) became a commander in the Parliamentarian army and later bought and perhaps remodelled Trengwainton House at Madron near Penzance. Francis had a son but it is not clear whether he outlived his father and inherited Trengwainton or not; at all events by the early 18th century Trengwainton had passed to the senior line of the family and replaced Menadarva as the family's principal seat.

Ezekiel Arundell (1610-82) was succeeded by his son William (b. 1639), but William died shortly afterwards without issue and the Menadarva estate passed into the hands of female relatives. A few years later, however, a young claimant to the estate appeared in the form of William Arundel (c.1682-1708), who had been born and brought up at Malaga (Spain). His father had been a merchant there, but had died within a year of his birth, and his mother (who was said to be of English extraction, but was herself the daughter of an innkeeper in Spain) brought him to England to claim his birthright. His father, Nicholas Arundell (c.1643-83) had been the son of Robert Arundell (1617-54), who was the fourth son of William Arundell (1584-1631) of Menadarva. The family had believed that Nicholas had died unmarried and without issue, and the appearance of a putative heir therefore inevitably caused a legal enquiry into the basis of the claim. William was able to bring witnesses to show that his parents had been married and that he was legitimate, and he was successful in obtaining possession of Menadarva in 1692. 

The young William Arundell (c.1682-1708) did not live long to enjoy his recovered estate, but he married in 1701 and produced a son to inherit: William Arundell (1704-60), who rebuilt Trengwainton and made it his principal seat, and sold Menadarva in 1755. He also made a marriage, to Jane, the daughter of Christopher Harris of Hayne (Devon), which was to have significant consequences for the future prospects of his descendants. William's heir was his son, William Arundell (1730-92), who for reasons which are obscure sold Trengwainton immediately after he inherited it. For some years afterwards, he seems to have had no major house, although he may have rented a property at Camborne, as his children were baptised there.  However, in 1775, on the death of his cousin, Christopher Harris of Hayne, he inherited both Kenegie Manor, Gulval (the neighbouring estate to Trengwainton) and the Lifton Park estate in Devon, where there seems to have been no substantial house at this time, and in recognition of this improvement in his fortunes, he changed his name to Arundel-Harris.  He settled at Kenegie Manor, where he was probably responsible for the addition of the north-east wing to the house, and when he died he was succeeded by his elder son, William Arundel-Harris (1760-98), who seems originally to have planned a career in the church, but apparently did not proceed beyond deacon's orders. 

When William died (apparently suddenly) in 1798, he left a wife and an infant son, William Arundell Harris (later Arundell) (1794-1865), who is much the most intriguing member of the family. His upbringing is obscure, although he went to Eton and Jesus College, Oxford; Kenegie was leased out during his minority and he may have been brought up by his mother's family. His life-story is one of a savage turn of fortune. His mother died in 1812 and he probably gained effective control of his estates in that year, when he turned 18. He married in 1815 and immediately started building a new and probably expensive house in the park at Lifton, apparently to the designs of the otherwise unknown George Webber, who was probably a relative of his wife; an imprudently large expenditure on building may have laid the foundation for his later financial difficulties.

The heraldic banner from Trerice of W.A. Harris as Sheriff of Cornwall, 1817,
showing all the quaterings of his arms. Image: © National Trust/Lynda Aiano

He was a Conservative in politics, a JP and Deputy Lieutenant for Devon, and served as High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1817 and of Devon in 1841, but in 1827 he was prosecuted by the Attorney General for the autocratic and oppressive use of his judicial authority against a local carrier who had apparently upset him. In 1828 he sold the Kenegie estate, and even if he had debts from the building of Lifton Park this sale should have enabled him to clear them; but by the mid-1840s he was in a financial crisis. The reason for this is obscure, but perhaps his reputation for high living included a gambling habit: at all events in 1845 he was forced to sell Lifton Park to a Hampshire man, Henry Blagrove (later Bradshaw), whom his daughter promptly married. He bought Trebursye as a smaller estate, but his finances were still unstable and he sold this too a few years later and by 1850 he was an insolvent debtor and forced to live abroad. He was discharged in 1854 and thereafter lived in a cottage at Lifton on his son-in-law's estate. He seems to have beguiled his declining years by writing and publishing poetry. His face in old age (see the portrait photograph below) perhaps reflects his bewilderment and disappointment at the way life had treated him. When he died in 1865 his effects were said to be worth less than £200, and his widow left under £800 in 1871. His only surviving son, William Reinfred Harris Arundell (1822-1901), did however apparently inherit from other relatives enough to live as a gentleman, although he never acquired a landed property.

Menadarva, Camborne, Cornwall

Menadarva was never a manor and the house here was apparently never more than a slightly gentrified farmhouse, or a barton in the local usage, but the Arundells of Menadarva (earlier Menedarva or Mertherderwa and variants) were nonetheless accounted gentry throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. The house today is an L-shaped two-storey building of the 17th and early 18th centuries, with a hipped roof and a severely plain and irregular entrance front to the east. The west front, facing the farm court, has a gabled porch in the angle with the south wing, and the courtyard itself is paved with small cobbles in geometrical patterns. Inside, the house has a fine panelled parlour with raised bolection-moulded panels above and below a dado rail, a bolection-moulded and cornice fireplace and an overmantel panel and door architraves to match. The house became a tenanted farmhouse on the Tehidy estate from the mid 18th century.

Descent: Sir John Arundell (d. 1560/1), kt.; to illegitimate son, Sir Robert Arundell (d. 1580), kt.; to son, Christopher Arundell (fl. 1561-1604); to son, William Arundell (1584-1631); to son, Ezekiel Arundell (1610-82); to son, William Arundell (b. 1639); to sisters/aunts, from whom it was recovered at law in 1692 by his second cousin and heir at law, William Arundell (c.1682-1708); to son, William Arundell (1704-60), who sold in 1755 to Francis Basset (d. 1769) of Tehidy Park, after which it became a farmhouse on the Tehidy estate.

Trengwainton, Madron, Cornwall

The house has a remarkably complicated history. The Cowling family had a house on the site from Tudor times, which they sold to Francis Arundell (c.1620-97) in 1668.  A datestone of 1692 on the house may mark a remodelling which he carried out in his old age. The oldest part of the surviving house seems to date from the time of William Arundell (1704-60), who made this his family's main home in preference to Menadarva and probably rebuilt the house from scratch. It was again remodelled and enlarged c.1810 for Sir Rose Price, a local boy who had made a fortune as a sugar-planter in Jamaica. He was probably responsible for building the seven bay south-east front shown in the earliest known view of the house.

Trengwainton from an engraving in the sale particulars of 1866.

He landscaped the grounds with 71 acres of plantations and shrubberies "laid out under the direction of Mr. George Brown", and built the five surviving walled gardens, ornamental lodges, and an ice house near the three ponds which he created in the valley to the west of the house. In 1836 the house was sold to Henry Lewis Stephens of Tregenna, who found the house "much too large for anyone to inhabit" and eventually demolished one wing of the house, which was used for some years afterwards as a farm.  

Trengwainton House: the entrance front created in the 1880s.
Image: Alfred Newton & Son, c.1900. [Historic England NMR BB98/02062]

The house was substantially remodelled for the Bolitho family in 1882 by J.P. St. Aubyn. The south-east front was given two pediments supported on pilasters set either side of the narrow central bay. This unusual but suprisingly effective design was later compromised by two bulky and frankly rather ugly single-storey flat-roofed projections on the ground floor, with a screen of columns between them, which I believe form part of further additions in 1897. 

Trengwainton House.

Trengwainton in 1877

Trengwainton in 1906

A comparison of the house as represented on the Ordnance Survey 6" maps of 1877 and 1906 shows the extent of the development of the building between the two dates. 



The gardens begun by Sir Rose Price and extended in the Victorian period became celebrated after Sir Edward Bolitho inherited the estate in 1925 and further developed them, with the help of his cousins, J.C. Williams of Caerhayes and P.D. Williams of Lanarth, and of Canon Boscawen of Ludgvan. 

Trengwainton: the stream garden created in the 1950s.
Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

He made the gardens one of the showpieces of Cornwall, creating the stream garden alongside the main front drive, building up collections of exotic species, including rhodedendrons sourced from Kingdon Ward's expedition to Assam and Burma in 1927-28, and making the old walled gardens a haven for tender plants. The garden, which has been open to the public since 1931, was made over to the National Trust in 1961, but the house remains the property of the Bolitho family.

Descent: sold 1668 to Francis Arundell (c.1620-97); ?to kinsman, William Arundell (c.1682-1708); to son, William Arundell (1704-60), who rebuilt the house; to son, William Arundell (later Arundel-Harris) (1730-92), who sold 1761 to ?William Praed; to son, who sold to Sir Rose Price, kt (d. 1834); sold 1835/6 to Henry Lewis Stephens... sold 1867 to Thomas Simon Bolitho (1808-87); to son, Col. Thomas Robins Bolitho (1840-1925); to nephew, Lt. Col. Sir Edward Hoblyn Warren Bolitho (1882-1969), who gave the garden to the National Trust; to son, Maj. Simon Edward Bolitho (1916-91); to son, Col. Edward Thomas Bolitho (b. 1955).

Kenegie, Gulval, Cornwall 

A much altered building that was perhaps traces its origins to the late 16th century house of the Tripconey family. It turns its back to the prevailing south-westerly winds and the splendid views over Mounts Bay. 

Kenegie, from William Borlase's Natural History of Cornwall, 1758, showing the house and gazebo.

The house is depicted in Borlase's engraving of 1758 as a severely plain single-storey block set above a basement which is hard to reconcile with the current, largely 19th century building. It does seem that the one evolved into the other, although there does seem to be some artistic licence in the engraving. 

Kenegie Manor: the north front, with the porch and late 17th century bay window. Image: Muriel C, via TripAdvisor

The present house is built largely of granite, with slate roofs, and has an irregular plan. The building shown by Borlase forms the central block of the house, and to the right of the centre has porches on the back and front faces which mark a cross-passage through the house. The house may originally have had a three room and cross-passage plan, with the hall to the left of the main entrance. Wings were added to the rear of this block in the late 17th or early 18th century, and Borlase's drawing suggests the existence of one of these. Either at the same time or later a semicircular bow window was added to the hall in a curiously stripped-down Jacobean manner that at first sight could be Arts & Crafts or even 1930s, and in the late 18th century a north-east wing was added to the house. When the house was offered for sale in 1824 it contained an entrance hall, dining room, breakfast room, drawing room, library, billiard room and morning room, apart from bedrooms and service accommodation. 

Kenegie Manor: the new south front created in the 19th century. Image: Aspects Holidays

Apart from some windows in the 18th century wing, the porches and the bow window, almost all the features of the building, including windows, doorways and chimneystacks, are now 19th century. There were probably several phases of work, but one of the major changes was designed to turn the old rear elevation into a new main south front. Inside, the ground floor has details largely of the 19th and 20th centuries, but upstairs more survives from earlier generations, including panelling, and coved and moulded plaster ceilings. The main staircase dates from c.1700 and has panelled newels and a doorway from the garden at a mezzanine level between the ground and first floors.

By the time of Borlase's engraving, the gardens had been developed, and included a gazebo with a first-floor banqueting room reached by two external staircases, that provided the view over Mount's Bay that was not available from the house.

One of the Arundell lions from Trerice.
Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

At the base of the gazebo may have sat on plinths the pair of much travelled stone lions which are now at Trerice, but which are known to have come from Kenegie via Lifton Park. The gazebo survives, and has on the side facing the view a semi-circular bow window.

Descent: ...sold 1602 to Arthur Harris (d. 1628); to son, John Harris; to son, Sir Arthur Harris, 1st bt. (d. 1673); to cousin, Christopher Harris; to son, William Harris MP (d. 1709); to son, Christopher Harris MP (d. 1718); to brother, John Harris, Master of the Household (d. 1767); to nephew, Christopher Harris (d. 1775); to son-in-law, William Arundel-Harris (1725-92); to son, Rev. William Arundel-Harris (fl. 1792), who leased c.1813-17 to Sir Rose Price (d. 1834) and later to others; he sold 1828 to Thomas Ellis, farmer; who sold 1853 to William Coulson (d. 1860); to widow, who sold 1866 to Thomas Simon Bolitho (1808-87); to son, Col. Otho Glynn Bolitho (1844-1911); sold c.1918 for use as an hotel; used as a hostel in WW2 and from 1954 as a hotel and country club. The main house has now been divided into flats and the grounds extensively developed as a holiday village with chalets all over the grounds.

Lifton Park (alias Castle Park), Devon

Lifton was an important royal estate in Saxon times: it was mentioned in King Alfred's will of c.880-85 and King Athelstan held his court here in November 931. Although it passed out of royal hands after the Conquest, it belonged in the medieval period to a succession of prominent owners, including the Hollands, Dukes of Exeter, and the Nevilles, Earls of Westmorland, and it seems very probable that the modern Lifton Park estate represents a medieval hunting park which perhaps had very early origins; the smooth curving outline of Lifton Wood on 19th century maps suggests an early date.

Lifton Park, from the Ordnance Survey 6" map of 1883. The smooth curving outline of Lifton Wood suggests its origin as a medieval park.

The manor and estate were acquired in the late 16th century by John Harris, serjeant-at-law to King Henry VIII and Edward VI, who also bought Hayne at Stowford, less than three miles away, which he made his principal seat. Lifton remained with the Harris family until 1775 when Christopher Harris died without male issue, but it would seem that they did not have a house on the later site of the mansion (no residence is marked here on Donn's 1" map of 1765), and instead used Smallacombe, a farmhouse to the north-west of Lifton village, as an occasional residence - perhaps as a dower house or a property for younger sons. This may explain why Smallacombe has a remarkable coved plaster ceiling, apparently formerly over a staircase but now in a bedroom, with lively but rustic plasterwork that reputedly celebrates Marlborough's victories.

Lifton Park: the east front from an early 19th century engraving.

The modern Lifton Park was built for William Arundell Harris (later Arundell) (1794-1865), beginning in the year of his marriage, 1815. The house is built in a Gothick style that still has much of the freedom and lightness of the 18th century and is as yet untroubled by the principles of Gothic structure or the archaeological correctness of Gothic forms of decoration. The designer drew on all the favourite stylistic motifs of the Gothic style, including traceried windows, battlements, and crowstepped and shaped gables, but these are artlessly combined with the large square sash windows and flat or low-pitched roofs of the classical Georgian house. In this, the house had a good deal in common with nearby Hayne, which was remodelled in a very similar style for Isaac Donithorne (the son-in-law of Christopher Harris) a few years earlier.  

Hayne, Stowford: a similar Gothick house probably finished by 1809.

The two houses are also linked by the survival in the grounds of both of diminutive early 19th century stone circles, which were unusual decorative features. That at Hayne, known as St. Hubert's Hall, is quite well known but that at Lifton has seldom been noticed. The low stones were reputedly intended as seats to be used at picnics, although most of them do not offer a conveniently flat surface today.

It seems quite likely that Lifton and Hayne were designed by the same man, but his identity is uncertain. In 1889 John Wollocombe stated in his memoir, From morn till eve, that Lifton was designed by George Webber, but Webber is not otherwise recorded as an architect, and as a result this attribution has been rather discounted by architectural historians, who have tentatively suggested that one or both houses might have been designed by Sir Jeffrey Wyatville. It now appears, however, that Webber was the maiden name of William Arundell Harris' wife, and this must strengthen the probability that Wollocombe's statement had a basis in fact. It seems possible that George was a relative of Mary Lucinda Harris and an amateur architect, and that the young couple turned naturally to him when they decided to embark on creating a new seat at Lifton.

By 1845 William Arundell Harris Arundell (as he became in 1822) was in financial difficulties and sold the house to his elder daughter's husband, Henry Blagrove (later Bradshaw). The sale particulars drawn up at the time describe the house as cased in artificial stone, and refer to an entrance hall, five reception rooms and twelve bedrooms, so it was already a very large house. It is said to have been damaged by fire in 1847 and reconstructed, and the Bradshaws certainly added a massive stone porte-cochere on the west front in 1853, probably to the designs of the Penzance architect, Edward Harvey. The house was further extended and altered in c.1857, and by the late 19th century the house had a massive complex of service accommodation at the rear. Lodges were added later at the entrances to the estate, one of which is dated 1867.

Lifton Park: an aerial view showing the restored west range at the bottom, and the ruinous east range at the top.

In the 1950s the house was again put up for sale, and the owner unwisely allowed a "Mr Berridge" who posed as a potential purchaser, unsupervised access to the house. He stripped the lead from the roof and then vanished. Unsurprisingly, rapid deterioration followed: the roof of the east wing collapsed and dry rot took hold. Complete destruction was only averted when new owners who bought the house in 1967 stabilised the west range, and the dry rot was only finally eradicated after 1997 when the the interiors of the west wing were gutted apart from a small number of features that were unaffected by rot. 

Lifton Park: the ruins of the east wing. Image: Devon Gardens Trust

The subsequent reinstatement has restored the early 19th century appearance of the main windows and created new interiors that tactfully incorporate and take as a starting point the surviving original features.  The east wing remains largely ruinous, and while one regrets the loss of some of the principal interiors, it has to be admitted that the restored portion of the house is quite large enough for modern needs.  

Descent: John Harris (fl. mid 16th cent.); to son, William Harris; to son, Capt. Arthur Harris (d. 1628); to son, John Harris; to son, Sir Arthur Harris, 1st bt. (d. 1673); to cousin, Christopher Harris; to son, William Harris MP (d. 1709); to son, Christopher Harris MP (d. 1718); to brother, John Harris, Master of the Household (d. 1767); to nephew, Christopher Harris (d. 1775); to first cousin, William Arundell (later Arundell-Harris) (1730-92); to son, William Arundell-Harris (1760-98); to son, William Arundell Harris (later Arundell) (1794-1865), who sold 1845 to his son-in-law, Henry Blagrove (later Bradshaw) (c.1820-77); to brother, Frank Bradshaw; to nephew, Cmdr. Cyril White (later Bradshaw); to daughter, who sold 1952... sold 1967 to Mr & Mrs William Dudley Martin who commenced restoration; sold 1997 to Mr & Mrs. Terence Lewis.

Arundell family of Lifton Park

Arundell, Robert* (c.1528-85), of Menedarva. Eldest son of Sir John Arundell (1494-1561) of Trerice by his second wife, Juliana Erisey, born c.1528 before his parents were married and never fully legitimated. A skilled archer, but a bad character. He was taken to court for cattle rustling and narrowly escaped execution, and he was later outlawed and imprised for not paying his debts. In 1561 he was ordered to pay John Trelawney 1,000 marks for slander, and he and his servant were described as "two as light and wanton persons for their behaviour and conversation as is in Cornwall and very much dreaded and feared". He married 1st, Eleanor, daughter of Robert Southwood, and 2nd, Elizabeth, daughter of William Clopton of Warwick, and had issue:
(2.1) Grace Arundell (c.1553-1623); married, 17 January 1574/5 at Camborne, Robert Trestene of Trenowa, Veryan (Cornwall), and had issue one daughter; buried at St Columb Major, 23 January 1622/3;
(2.2) Christopher Arundell (fl. 1561-1604) (q.v.);
(2.3) John Arundell; married, 1583, Elizabeth Trenwith;
(2.4) William Arundell (fl. 1580);
(2.5) Robert Arundell; married, 16 April 1583, Elizabeth (who m3, Thomas Hearle), daughter and co-heir of William Myllyton of Pengersick Castle (Cornwall) and widow of Thomas Trenwith;
(2.6) Richard Arundell (fl. 1580);
(2.7) Mary Arundell (fl. 1580);
(2.8) Jaquetta Arundell (fl. 1580); married Richard Bosawsack (fl. 1620) of Bosawsack and had issue one son and one daughter;
(2.9) Blanche Arundell (fl. 1580);
(2.10) Julian(a) Arundell (fl. 1580); married, before 1580, Richard Antorne.
He inherited the Menedarva estate at Camborne from his father.
He was buried 18 March 1585 at Camborne, where he is commemorated by a monument.
* He is sometimes described as 'Sir Robert' in secondary sources but I have been unable to find evidence that he was ever knighted, and his career makes this improbable. 

Arundell, Christopher (fl. 1561-1604), of Menedarva. Eldest son of Sir Robert Arundell (d. 1580), kt. of Menedarva and his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of William Clopton of Warwick, born before 1561.  He married, 1583, Katherine (d. 1617/8), daughter of William Chyverton of Paul (Cornwall) and had issue:
(1) William Arundell (1584-1631) (q.v.);
(2) John Arundell (born c.1586; fl. 1623); married Anne (fl. 1623), daughter of Alexander Pendarves and had issue two sons and one daughter;
(3) Margery Arundell (d. 1622); married John Bosavarne; buried 12 May 1622;
(4) Elizabeth Arundell; married, 29 October 1617 at Camborne, David Grosse;
(5) Thomas Arundell (d. 1621); died without issue and was buried at Camborne, 15 September 1621.
He inherited the Menedarva estate at Camborne from his father.
His date of death is unknown. His widow was buried 1 March 1617/8.

Arundell, William (1584-1631), of Menedarva. Eldest son of Christopher Arundell of Menedarva and his wife Katherine, daughter of William Chyverton of Paul (Cornwall), born 1584. He married, 14 March 1607/8 at Menheniot (Cornwall), Dorcas (c.1587-1646), daughter of Ezekiel Grosse of Camborne and had issue:
(1) Katherine Arundell (fl. 1668), born c.1609; married, 13 April 1629 at Camborne, Richard Pendarves (1596-1674), and had issue two sons and two daughters;
(2) Ezekiel Arundell (1610-82) (q.v.);
(3) William Arundell (1611-34), baptised 26 May 1611; died unmarried and was buried at Camborne, 12 June 1634; evidently a farmer, whose livestock is listed in his probate inventory; will proved in the Cornwall Archdeaconry Court, 1635;
(4) Margery Arundell (1612-13), baptised at Camborne, 14 August 1612; died in infancy and was buried 23 May 1613;
(5) John Arundell (1616-71), baptised at Camborne, 20 February 1615/6; married, 20 July 1636 at St. Erme (Cornwall), Margaret Coke and had issue; will proved in Cornwall archdeaconry court, 1671;
(6) Robert Arundell (1617-54) (q.v.);
(7) Francis Arundell (c.1620-97) of Trengwainton (which he purchased c.1681 and perhaps altered in 1692); a Captain in the Parliamentarian army during the Civil War; married, 13 February 1656/7 at St. Ives (Cornwall), Dorothy, daughter of John Saffin of Sutton (Devon) and had issue one son and two daughters; died 10 August and was buried at Madron, 13 August 1697;
(8) James Arundell (b. 1623), baptised at Camborne, 16 November 1623;
(9) Christopher Arundell (b. 1627), baptised at Camborne, 17 June 1627.
He inherited the Menedarva estate at Camborne from his father after 1604.
He was buried at Camborne, 15 April 1631; his will was proved in the Cornwall Archdeaconry Court, 1631/2. His widow was buried at Camborne, 6 January 1645/6.

Arundell, Ezekiel (1610-82) of Menadarva. Eldest son of William Arundell (d. 1631) and his wife Dorcas, daughter of Ezekiel Grosse of Camborne, baptised at Camborne, 28 March 1610. He married Margery/Margaret Bossaverne and had issue:
(1) William Arundell (b. 1639; fl. 1682) (q.v.);
(2) Margery Arundell (1641-43), baptised 7 or 27 April 1641; buried 20 February 1642/3.
He inherited the Menedarva estate at Camborne from his father in 1631.
He died c.1682, when administration of his goods was granted to his son.

Arundell, William (b. 1639) of Menadarva. Only son of Ezekiel Arundell (c.1608-82) of Menedarva and his wife Margery/Margaret Bossaverne, baptised at Camborne, 11 August 1639. He is said to have married Katherine (d. 1699) [surname unknown] and to have had issue a son William, whom Burke's Landed Gentry confuses with William (c.1682-1708), son of Nicholas Arundell. There may in reality have been no surviving issue.
He apparently inherited the Menedarva estate at Camborne from his father in 1682, but he and any surviving issue had apparently died before 1692, when William Arundell (c.1682-1708) established his claim to the estate.
He died after 1682. His wife was buried 9 December 1699.

Arundell, Robert (1617-54). Fourth son of William Arundell of Menedarva and his wife Dorcas Grosse, baptised 3 August 1617. He is said to have married "Elizabeth Pendarves of Roserawe" but Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Pendarves of Roskrow, Penrhyn (Cornwall) married Samuel Enys of Enys in 1647 and the identification of his wife is therefore uncertain. They had issue:
(1) Nicholas Arundell (c.1643?-83) (q.v.);
(2) Robert Arundell (1650-52), baptised 28 December 1650; buried 11 February 1651/2.
He died on 3 April and was buried 5 April 1654; a grant of administration of his goods was made by the PCC, 1654.

Arundell, Nicholas (c.1643-83). Only surviving son of Robert Arundell (1617-54) and his wife Elizabeth Pendarves, reputedly born c.1643.  A merchant in Spain. He married in Spain, 1674, an innkeeper's widow [name unknown] of English extraction, and had issue:
(1) William Arundell (d. 1708) (q.v.);
(2) Elizabeth Arundell;
(3) Anne Arundell.
He died in Malaga (Spain), 1683. His widow's date of death has not been traced.

Arundell, William (c.1682-1708) of Menedarva and Trengwainton. Only son of Nicholas Arundell (d. 1683), born at Malaga (Spain) about 1682. He grew up in Spain until he was brought to England by his mother in c.1690 and recovered the family estates from relatives who believed they had inherited because his father had died without issue. He married, 8 August 1701 at Falmouth (Cornwall), Elizabeth Tremenheere (d. 1724) and had issue:
(1) William Arundell (1704-60) (q.v.);
(2) Anna Arundell (b. 1708), baptised at Camborne, 5 February 1707/8; married, 22 September 1737 at Madron, Richard Jenkins;
(3) Francis Arundell (b. 1709), born posthumously and baptised at Madron, 1 July 1709; probably died young.
He reclaimed the Menedarva estate through a successful lawsuit decided at Launceston in 1692. Either he or his son inherited the Trengwainton estate from Francis Arundell (d. 1697) or his descendants.
He was buried at Camborne, 10 December 1708; his will was proved in the Cornwall Archeaconry Court, 1709. His widow was buried at Madron, 15 January 1723/4.

Arundell, William (1704-60). Son of William Arundell (d. 1708) and his wife Elizabeth Tremenheere, baptised at Camborne, 26 January 1703/4. He married 1st, 25 July 1721 at Gulval, Jane (d. 1736), daughter of Christopher Harris of Hayne (Devon) and sister of John Harris, Master of the Household to Kings George II and III, and 2nd, 1 September 1737, Catherine, daughter of [forename unknown] Pendarves and widow of Zachary Williams (d. 1732?), and had issue:
(1.1) Jane Arundell (b. 1727), baptised 5 November 1727; married [forename unknown] Sterner/Starmer esq.;
(1.2) William Arundell (later Arundel-Harris) (1730-92) (q.v.).
He inherited the Menedarva estate from his father in 1708. Either he or his father inherited the Trengwainton estate from Francis Arundell (d. 1697) or his descendants. He seems to have lived mainly at Trengwainton, which he apparently remodelled; he sold Menedarva to Francis Basset of Tehidy Park in 1755.
He was buried at Madron, 14 February 1760. His first wife was buried at Madron, 13 July 1736. His widow's date of death is unknown.

Arundel (later Arundel-Harris), William (1730-92) of Menedarva and Trengwainton. Only son of William Arundell (fl. 1725) and his first wife, Jane, daughter of Christopher Harris of Hayne (Devon), baptised at Madron, 5 April 1730. He assumed the surname and arms of Harris in 1776. He married 1st, 13 December 1759 at Camborne, Wilmot Daniell of Crane and 2nd, 17 October 1776 at Madron (Cornwall), Frances Nicholls (d. 1810), and had issue:
(1.1) William Arundell (later Harris) (1760-98) (q.v.);
(1.2) Jane Arundell (1762-1850), baptised at Camborne, 25 July 1762; married, 20 November 1784 at Gulval, George John (c.1759-1847) of Rosemorran, lawyer and town clerk of Penzance, and had issue three sons and four daughters; died 4 August 1850;
(1.3) Anne Arundell (1763-1832), baptised at Camborne, 20 November 1763; married, 14 August 1794 at Madron, Rev. John Passmore, rector of St Just-in-Roseland and had issue; died at Ilfracombe (Devon), 26 May 1832;
(1.4) Rev. John Arundell (c.1764-1801); educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1786; BCL 1793); rector of Cheriton Fitzpaine (Devon); he added but later dropped the name of Harris which his father had assumed; married Anna Maria Sanders and had issue one son and four daughters; died August 1801;
(1.5) Wilmot Arundell (b. 1765), baptised at Camborne, 8 August 1765; died young;
(1.6) Elizabeth Arundell (1767-1800), born 9 March 1767; married, 1797, James Mackenzie (1772-1852) of Deborne Lodge (IoW) (who m2, Melissa, daughter of Penyston Portlock Powney of Ives Place, nr Maidenhead (Berks)); died 26 May 1800 and was buried at Whippingham (IoW); commemorated on her husband's monument in the churchyard at Old Windsor (Berks);
(1.7) Arthur Harris Arundell (b. 1768), baptised at Camborne, 27 October 1768;
(1.8) Wilmot Arundell (1770-1814), baptised at Camborne, 23 January 1770; married, 18 August 1794 at Madron, Lewis Charles Daubuz (c.1765-1840) of Truro (who bore such a marked similarity of appearance to the Duke of Wellington that he was often mistaken for him) and had issue; died at Truro, 3 June and was buried at St Mary, Truro, 9 June 1814, where she is commemorated by a monument;
(1.9) Lydia Arundell (1772-97), baptised at Camborne, 29 January 1772; married, 6 February 1794 at Madron (Cornwall), Rev. John Hole (1763-1840) of Woolfardisworthy (Devon) (who m2, 1805, Sarah Brassey and had further issue three sons and four daughters), and had issue three daughters; died 'of a sore throat', 17 May and was buried at Woolfardisworthy (Devon), 27 May 1797.
He inherited the Trengwainton estate from his father in 1760 but sold it the following year. He inherited Kenegie and Lifton Park from his cousin, Christopher Harris, in 1775.
He was burial at Gulval, 11 December 1792. His widow died in Penzance, 15 April 1810.

Arundell (later Harris), William (1760-98). Eldest son and heir of William Arundell (later Harris) (1730-92) of Menedarva and Trengwainton, and his first wife, Wilmot Daniell of Crane, baptised at Camborne, 21 November 1760. Educated at Tiverton and Peterhouse, Cambridge (admitted 1778). He was ordained deacon, 1784, but there is no evidence he was ever priested or held a cure of souls; he is not to be confused with his nephew of the same name, who was ordained in 1822. He was noted for the generosity of his hospitality at Kenegie, but (perhaps as a consequence!) suffered acutely from gout. He married, 30 March 1793 at Paul (Cornwall), Mary (d. 1812), daughter of John Beard of Halwyn, Paul, and had issue:
(1) William Arundell Harris (later Arundell) (1794-1865) (q.v.). 
He inherited the Kenegie and Lifton estates from his father in 1792.
He died 19 February 1798 and was buried at Gulval, 2 March 1798; his will was proved in the PCC, 13 July 1798. His widow was buried at Gulval, 3 October 1812.

W.A.H. Arundell

Harris (later Arundell), William Arundell (1794-1865). Only son of Rev. William Arundel Harris (1760-98) and his wife Mary, daughter of John Beard of Halwyn, Paul (Cornwall), born 17 September and baptised at Gulval, 21 December 1794. Educated at Eton and Jesus College, Oxford (matriculated 1810). JP for Devon and Cornwall; DL for Devon; High Sheriff of Cornwall, 1817 and of Devon, 1841. He stood as a candidate in the Exeter parliamentary election in 1816 as an opponent of parliamentary reform, but withdrew before the poll. In 1821 he was reported erroneously to be about to mount a claim to the ancient Barony of Arundell of Trerice, but he did resume the surname of Arundell in 1822. In 1827 he was prosecuted by the Attorney General in Kings Bench for the oppressive misuse of his powers as a magistrate. He lived extravagantly and evidently ran up substantial debts, which obliged him to sell Lifton to his son-in-law in 1845; despite this, he was later an insolvent debtor (discharged 1854). He married, 19 September 1815 at Gulval, Mary Lucinda (b. 1794; fl. 1861), second daughter of William Webber of Exmouth (Devon) and had issue:
(1) William Arundel Walpole Harris (b. & d. 1816), baptised at Gulval, 25 August 1816; died at Lifton, 16 October 1816;
(2) William Reinfred Harris Arundell (1822-1901), born 12 January and baptised at Lifton, 16 January 1822; married 1st, 1856, Elizabeth (c.1835-1903), daughter of Rev. Henry Townend, and had issue seven sons and two daughters; and 2nd, 4 February 1874, Anna Louisa (d. 1902), daughter of Lt-Col. John Dixon; died 17 October 1901; will proved 5 December 1901 (estate £26,293);
(3) Mary Wilmot Arundell (b. 1823; fl. 1881), baptised at Lifton, 10 December 1823; married, December 1845 at South Petherwin, Henry Blagrove (later Bradshaw) (c.1820-77) but had no issue;
(4) Penelope Arundell (1825-1902), baptised at Lifton, 18 April 1825; married, 1852, Rev. John Bidlake Wollocombe (1823-1903) of Stowford (Devon) and had issue two sons; died 2 June 1902; will proved 3 July 1902 (effects £42).
He inherited the Kenegie and Lifton estates from his father in 1798 and came of age in 1815. He built a new house at Lifton and leased out Kenegie until it was sold, apparently in 1828. When he became financially embarrassed, he sold Lifton (with 4,580 acres) to his son-in-law, Henry Blagrove (later Bradshaw) in 1845 and bought Trebursye, South Petherwin, where he lived for a brief period, before moving to Ostend (Belgium). After his bankruptcy he lived at a cottage on the Lifton estate.
He died at Lifton, 2 April 1865; administration of his goods granted to his son, 6 October 1874 (effects under £200). His widow died 18 October 1871; her will was proved 16 February 1872 (effects under £800).

Sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1850, pp. 26-27; W.G. Hoskins, A new survey of England: Devon, 1954, p. 424; T. Gray, The garden history of Devon, 1995, p. 140; D.E. Pett, The parks and gardens of Cornwall, 1998, pp. 39-40, 48-49; J. Wood, Trerice, National Trust guidebook, 2007; P. Beacham & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Cornwall, 2014, p. 336; H. Meller, The country houses of Devon, 2015, pp. 618-20; http://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/aa/arundell4.php#con1

Location of archives

Arundell family of Lifton Park: miscellaneous estate papers, c.1820-40 [Devon Heritage Centre, D4151]. In addition there are some relevant papers among the records of the Arundells of Lanherne and Trerice.

Coat of arms

Arundel of Menedarva: Sable, six swallows argent, three, two and one.
Harris of Hayne: Sable, within a border, three crescents argent.

Can you help?

Here are a few notes about information and images which would help to improve the account above. If you can help with any of these or with other additions or corrections, please use the contact form in the sidebar to get in touch.

• Does anyone know more about circumstances under which William Arundell (c.1682-1708) proved his right to the Menadarva estate? They are outlined in an article in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1829, but I have been unable to locate any records of the legal proceedings at Launceston in 1692 which it refers to.
• Can anyone throw more light on the architectural development of Kenegie House? It would be informative to see any further illustrations showing it between the time of Borlase's engraving of 1758 and the recent photographs above.
• Does anyone know more about the career or building activities of George Webber, or his relationship to Mary Lucinda Webber, the wife of William Arundell Harris Arundell (1794-1865)?
• Can anyone provide more information about the children of Robert Arundell (d. 1580) or Christopher Arundell (fl. 1561-1604) from deeds or wills? The genealogical record of these generations is weaker than I would like.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 31 October 2015 and updated 1-4 November 2015, 10 May 2016 and 7 October 2024. I am most grateful to Wendy Taylor and Bruce Bennett for additional information and corrections.