272 THE FAMILY OF KILLIGREW. 



Martin Killigrew, in the commencement of his Historj^, observes 

 that the Killigrews were " of the most ancient of our people " ; 

 and that Richard, Duke of Cornwall and King of the Romans, 

 gave them "y^ spread eagle with the border of Cornwall" as their 

 arms.* They held the manor of Killigrew until the time of 

 Henry VIII, " tho' some time before they had marryed y® daughter 

 and Heir of Arwenack, and had removed their Residence thither." 

 When Pendennis Castle was built by King Henry, John Killigrew 

 was made " Captain therof," and so continued until he died, in 

 1567, "having rebuilt Arwenack House, y'' finest and most costly 

 then in y'' county," and being possessed of an estate of £6000 a 

 year, " his lands in those parts extending from Arwenack to Hel- 

 ford Passage." Sir John Killigrew, his son, succeeded him both at 

 Arwenack and at Pendennis, and died in the 26th of Elizabeth, 

 having placed his two younger sons, Thomas and Simon, at Court, 

 where they " made their Fortunes." The History then proceeds : — 



" John, y^ eldest Son of y^ said Sir John Killigrew, marryed 

 Dorothy, daughter of Tho^ Monck, of Poderidge, in y° County of 

 Devon, Esq., Ancestor to Gen' Monck, Duke of Albemarle, by whom 

 he had 9 Sons and 5 Daughters ; who, tho' a father of so many 

 Children, was so negligent of his Affairs, a fine Gentleman, a 

 Gamester, and so profuse in his Way of living, as to leave his 

 eldest son, y^ last Sir John Killigrew of y" name, a very shattered 

 Estate. The said last Sir John Killigrew, a sober good man, to 

 his utter undoing, marryed y^ daughter of an ancient and honor- 

 able family, now in y^ peerage, in respect to whom I forbear the 

 name ; making herself infamous, and first debauched by y* 

 Governor of Pendennis Castle.t 



" In y^ said Sir John's younger days, S" Walter Raleigh, 



* Hals took the arms to indicate the descent of the family from the 

 Duke through his concubine, Joan de Valletorta. The arms of Falmoiith, 

 derived from those of the family, are — a two-headed eagle displayed, charged 

 with a castle on each wing and a rock surmounted by a pole on the body. 



•f- Hals also gives this lady— the daughter of Sir George Fermor — a very 

 bad character as a widow, stating that she went on board two Hanse-town 

 vessels, in Falmouth Harbour, with a numerous gang of ruffians, and murder- 

 ing two Spanish merchants, took thence two barrels of pieces of eight. 

 Retribution awaited all the criminals but the chief ; the whole party being 

 tried at Launceston, and executed, with the exception of "Lady Jane," 

 who escaped by the influence of friends, one being Ihe Governor of Pendennis. 

 Davies Gilbert says, "this terrible story cannot possibly be true, in the man- 

 ner or to the extent in which it is related." 



