CORNISH-GEN-L Archives

From: "Edward Martin" <>
Subject: Re: Sparnon
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 16:10:09 +0000

Hello Phil

I have not done any particularly detailed research on the Sparnons, but I
have a number of ancestors from the Breage area, so I have touched on them a
few times.

The name is Cornish (Celtic) in origin and simply means a thorn tree. There
are a number of places called Sparnon (or slight variants in spelling) in
Breage, St Buryan, Budock, Redruth, St Blazey and St Mewan. Where a
farmstead is involved, the meaning is '[the farmstead at] the thorn tree'.

In the Tudor period in west Cornwall surnames were still very fluid. People
bearing a surname derived from a place were very likely to be actually
living at that place - if they moved they frequently changed surnames. The
tax lists and musters of the 1520s suggest that the only family then using
the surname Sparnon were the family in Breage, and that they were probably
actually living at Sparnon (the Visitation pedigree bears this out by naming
Simon Sparnon as 'of Sparnon'). Simon's likely father, Thomas, did however
own land in a number of west Cornwall parishes in 1522: Gwinear (£1-13-4),
St Buryan (£1), St Levan (£1-5-0), Stithians (10s), Wendron (£1-6-8) as well
as Breage.

By the Tinners' Muster of c.1535, there is one stray Sparnon - a John in
Wendron.

By the time of the Muster of 1569 there were more strays:
Gwennap - John Spernan, able archer with a bow and 6 arrows
Illogan - John Spernan, able billman, with a bill
St Hilary - Stephen Spernan, with a sling bag.

It is, however, quite possible that some of these late 16th-century Sparnons
actually took their name from a different Sparnon - the Illogan man could
have taken his name from the place in Redruth, for instance. On the whole, a
family were more likely to adopt a place-name as a surname if they had a
long-term involvement with the place.

In the early 17th century there are a couple of curious Sparnons in Ludgvan:
Mychell Sparnon alias Tredynack, husbandman, will proved 1606
John Sparnon alias Tredenick, administration bond 1609/10.
Their double name suggests that they were either Sparnons who had moved to
Tredenick, or vice versa!

By the Protestation Return of 1641/2 there were even more Sparnons about:
Breage (John & Edward), Gunwalloe (John), Mylor (James), Stithians (James),
Gwinear (Benjamin - a definite member of the Breage family), Redruth
(Thomas), Lanhydrock (James), St Blazey (Nicholas).

The Sparnons of Breage seem to have moved from Sparnon by the mid 17th
century and established themselves at another place in Breage, called
Pengelly. The 1660 Poll Tax shows a family of Tyrackes as the occupiers of
Sparnon, and the Sparnons at Pengelly.

The Sparnons of Breage were not great landowners and I suspect that it will
be a lucky chance if there is much documentation about the family earlier
than the 1520s. It is likely that they originated as farmers but managed to
acquire a measure of wealth through the tin trade.

Hope this helps

Edward

This thread:

• Re: Sparnon by "Edward Martin" <>