98 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
and his fortunes were so intimately associated with our town, and 
his children and descendants were so closely linked up with the 
town of his adoption, that he may fairly be regarded as a Plymouth 
worthy. 
First and foremost stands Robert Trelawny, a member of an 
honoured Plymouth family of merchants, from which on many 
occasions was chosen the mayor of this borough. The office of 
mayor in former days, before commanders-in-chief in the army and 
navy were known, was a post of great dignity and authority in the 
West of England, and the holders of the office were relied upon by 
the reigning sovereign and his ministers to uphold the royal 
authority, and by timely reports and warning to give such informa- 
tion to the crown as was necessary to the safety and support of the 
realm. The grandfather and father had been mayors of Plymouth, 
the latter three times, in 1607, 1616, and 1627, the last time dying 
in harness, on the 7th of December, 1627, and being buried in 
St. Andrew's Church. That year there were three mayors, two of 
whom fell victims to the plague then raging in the town. Robert 
Trelawny was born at Plymouth, on the 25th of March, 1598, was 
baptized at St. Andrew's on the 1st of April following, and was 
married at Mevagissey Church on the 6th of January, 1623, to 
Anne Yoga, or Coga, or Crooke, by whom he left a large family. 
At this time the storm which was shortly to break over England 
with such fearful violence was gathering, and where could the 
burgesses of Plymouth in their disquietude better turn for guidance 
and counsel than to one of her first and leading citizens, the son of 
the man who had served his native town so faithfully and long, 
and had died in her service] Accordingly, Robert Trelawny is 
found, only six years after his father's death, occupying the position 
of mayor : a man, as his after life showed, of stern resolve and 
piety; one whom no danger or difficulty could swerve from the 
path he considered to be right; and fancy can picture him, im- 
pressed with the gravity of the troublous times in which he lived, 
demurely passing from his family house in Looe Street (in our times 
used as the office of the Plymouth Herald) to the Council Chamber 
of the mayor and council in Guildhall, or taking part in the less 
formal but equally important deliberations of the mayor and 
commonalty, held in the old mayoralty house at the western corner 
of Batter and Vintry Streets, anxiously seeking, with all others 
jealous for the well-being and honour of their country, some means 
