TREBARTHE, John (d.c.1441), of Trebartha in Northill, Cornw.

This Member may have been the son of John Trebarthe and his wife, Christine (née Wallis), of Northill, who is mentioned in the family pedigree,E.g. Vivian, Vis. Cornw. 430, but this contains several errors. but nothing is recorded about him before his enlistment in the service of the duchy of Cornwall soon after this appanage was conferred on the prince of Wales, Henry of Monmouth. Trebarthe did duty as bailiff of the stannary of Blackmore for at least four years before being promoted by the prince to the more prestigious office of bailiff itinerant of the duchy estates in Cornwall, and he was occupying the latter post at the time of his election to Parliament by the borough of Lostwithiel, the administrative centre of the duchy. By 1417 he had secured his office for life, but after Henry V’s death the new King’s councillors changed back his terms of tenure to ‘during royal pleasure’ Even so, it seems likely that he continued to serve as bailiff until he died. In 1426 the receiver of the duchy empowered him to present the accounts for the hundred of Kerrier, the bailiffship of which was then divided between the coheirs of Bloyowe; but otherwise he appears in the records only as accountant for the dues collected by virtue of his own office. He probably died shortly before 4 Oct. 1441, the date that John Trevelyan succeeded him.SC6/820/12; CPR, 1422-9, p. 161; 1441-6, p. 21. He was probably the father of Nicholas Trebarthe, who in 1451 was said to own lands in Cornw. worth £7 p.a. (E179/87/92).