Enys family of Enys in Cornwall
Encyclopedia
The Enys family have lived at Enys, which lies on the northern outskirts of Penryn
, time out of mind. The Enys Trust website says: "Robert de Enys lived there during the reign of Edward I." The 1709 edition of Camden's Magna Britannia mentioned that Enys was noted for its fine gardens.
John Davies Enys greatly enriched Enys with seeds and plants he regularly sent home from New Zealand and Patagonia.
The lakes in the lower valley have a water wheel which raised water to the house. The scenery created here has been much photographed over the years. In Spring the bluebells in the parkland, known as Parc Lye, are a sight to behold. This area is believed to be undisturbed since ancient times, and contains many trees of a great age. The formal gardens still contain plants shrubs and trees from the J D Enys Collection, and the Estate also has a fine collection of bamboos comprising a number of very rare varieties.
Probably the most valuable asset to the garden is its microclimate. It is virtually frost free, and this, together with the mild and temperate influence of the Gulf Stream, enables many tender plants and trees to flourish. One of the most important of these is the "Peruvian Laurel
", one of the few specimens growing in England today. There is also a Maidenhair tree, (Ginkgo biloba) which is said to be the tallest specimen outside Kew Gardens.
represented Penryn
in Parliament
in 1660.
The family has supplied the Duchy of Cornwall
with several High Sheriff
s and the Quarter Sessions
with many J.P.s
Samuel was a younger son. His father was also called Samuel Enys.
He was a highly successful merchant and was able to buy back the Enys family's land, that had to be sold and mortgaged during the first half of the 17th Century. He also built himself a large house on the waterfront at Penryn
. He married Elizabeth Pendarves and they had four sons, Samuel (again), John, Valentine and Richard. They were trained as merchants .
Valentine Enys (1653-1719) was the third of four sons of Samuel and Elizabeth. He was a merchant, who exported in salted pilchards to the Canary Islands and imported canary wine. Extracts from his letter-book have been published . June Palmer, the editor of the book, has placed a transcript of all the letters, other than those in the Spanish langugage in the Cornwall Record Office. The Letter-book remains in private hands. The publication is a remarkable source for maritime history and the life of a remarkable Cornishman.
(17 December 1757 – 30 July 1818), son of John Enys and Lucy Basset, was British soldier during the American Revolution and the War with France.
was born 21 September 1796, son of Samuel Hunt and Luce Ann Enys, his wife, the daughter of Samuel Enys. In 1813, his mother reverted her name from Hunt to Enys, after the death of her husband. He was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1824. In 1833 John Samuel Enys engaged Henry Harrison , a London architect, to produce designs for the garden as well as the house. Amongst these features was the Ladies Garden, later called the Flower Garden"
He married, on 17 April 1834 Catherine Gilbert, eldest daughter of Davies Gilbert
(1767–1839), a President of the Royal Society
and Mary Ann Gilbert
(c. 1776 – 26 April 1845), his wife.
Their children were: :
None of the brothers married. On August 28, 1860 Jane Mary Enys married Captain Henry Rogers RN
.
and Catherine Gilbert.
He was educated at Harrow School
.
In the 1850s he attended lectures at the Geological Society of London
, took walking tours in Britain and carefully recorded discoveries of ferns, wild-flowers and shells, establishing a pattern of life as an inveterate collector and keen amateur naturalist.
He settled in South Island, New Zealand, at Castle Hill
, where he raised sheep and studied the local fauna, flora and geology. His brother, Charles joined him.
Penryn, Cornwall
Penryn is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Penryn River about one mile northwest of Falmouth...
, time out of mind. The Enys Trust website says: "Robert de Enys lived there during the reign of Edward I." The 1709 edition of Camden's Magna Britannia mentioned that Enys was noted for its fine gardens.
The House and garden
The Enys Trust was formed in 2002 as a charity in order to secure the long term future of the garden at Enys, near Penryn in Cornwall, and to open the garden to the public.John Davies Enys greatly enriched Enys with seeds and plants he regularly sent home from New Zealand and Patagonia.
The lakes in the lower valley have a water wheel which raised water to the house. The scenery created here has been much photographed over the years. In Spring the bluebells in the parkland, known as Parc Lye, are a sight to behold. This area is believed to be undisturbed since ancient times, and contains many trees of a great age. The formal gardens still contain plants shrubs and trees from the J D Enys Collection, and the Estate also has a fine collection of bamboos comprising a number of very rare varieties.
Probably the most valuable asset to the garden is its microclimate. It is virtually frost free, and this, together with the mild and temperate influence of the Gulf Stream, enables many tender plants and trees to flourish. One of the most important of these is the "Peruvian Laurel
Laurelia sempervirens
Laurelia sempervirens, called from mapuche: Tihue, Trihue, also called Chilean Laurel or Chilean Sassafras. It is a species of Evergreen tree in the family Atherospermataceae, formerly Monimiaceae family, in the southern hemisphere genus of plant Laurelia, not closely related to Lauraceae despite...
", one of the few specimens growing in England today. There is also a Maidenhair tree, (Ginkgo biloba) which is said to be the tallest specimen outside Kew Gardens.
History of Enys Place & its gardens
The Enys Trust states"Enys probably first became the home of the Enys family during the life of Robert de Enys who, according to a pedigree produced for Samuel Enys (1611–1697) from family deeds, "began to reign in 1272". Robert's granddaughter, Joane, released her rights to lands at Enys to her brother, John, and his heirs in 1363, the 37th year of Edward III's reign; this deed is still in the Cornwall Record Office. Enys is certainly mentioned in a Cornish play taken to Oxford in 1450, the manuscript of which is in the Bodleian Library, when it was among lands given as a reward to the builder of the universe.
The earliest surviving pictures of the house and grounds, show the Elizabethan house in parkland or having a long walled garden covering the area from the house to the bottom of the present walled garden, surrounded by parkland. This layout was probably introduced in the seventeenth century by Samuel Enys (mentioned above) a successful merchant, based in Spain for many years, who purchased the property from his elder brother, Thomas, when he returned to Cornwall after the Civil War. Another feature of the gardens which probably dates from Samuel's time is the ponds, used at that time as fish ponds to supply the house.
Alterations to the gardens started in the early 19th century, firstly by Francis Enys who demolished part of the walled garden and created less formal gardens containing "a delightful shrubbery". In 1833 John Samuel Enys engaged Henry Harrison who introduced a number of changes including the present Flower Garden (then known as the Ladies Garden) and the Colonel's Garden. The Elizabethan house was burnt down in a fire during the 1820's and the present house was completed in 1833, using stone quarried within the estate.
The gardens were enriched in the latter 19th century by John and Charles Enys who lived for many years in New Zealand and sent home many plants, including tree fernsCyathealesThe order Cyatheales is a taxonomic division of the fern subclass, Cyatheatae, which includes the tree ferns. No clear morphological features characterize all of the Cyatheales, but DNA sequence data indicates that the order is monophyletic. Some species in the Cyatheales have tree-like growth...
and the Chatham Island Forget-me-not [MyosotidiumMyosotidiumMyosotidium is a genus of plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae. This genus is represented by the single species Myosotidium hortensia, the Chatham Islands forget-me-not, which is endemic to the Chatham Islands, New Zealand....
hortensia]."
Public service
Samuel EnysSamuel Enys
Samuel Enys was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660.Enys was the third son of John Enys of Enys and his wife Winifred Rise, daughter of Thomas Rise of Trewardreva, Constantine. When he was 16, he was apprenticed to an English merchant at San Sebastian...
represented Penryn
Penryn (UK Parliament constituency)
Penryn was a parliamentary borough in Cornwall, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1553 until 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to until 1832...
in Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
in 1660.
The family has supplied the Duchy of Cornwall
Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...
with several High Sheriff
High Sheriff
A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...
s and the Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions
The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...
with many J.P.s
Enys family High Sheriffs of Cornwall
- 1708-1709: Samuel Enys
- 1796: John Enys
- 1824: John Samuel Enys
- 1876: Francis Gilbert Enys
Samuel and Valentine Enys
Samuel Enys and his son Valentine were merchants, trading between the river Fal and Spain ..Samuel was a younger son. His father was also called Samuel Enys.
He was a highly successful merchant and was able to buy back the Enys family's land, that had to be sold and mortgaged during the first half of the 17th Century. He also built himself a large house on the waterfront at Penryn
Penryn, Cornwall
Penryn is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Penryn River about one mile northwest of Falmouth...
. He married Elizabeth Pendarves and they had four sons, Samuel (again), John, Valentine and Richard. They were trained as merchants .
Valentine Enys (1653-1719) was the third of four sons of Samuel and Elizabeth. He was a merchant, who exported in salted pilchards to the Canary Islands and imported canary wine. Extracts from his letter-book have been published . June Palmer, the editor of the book, has placed a transcript of all the letters, other than those in the Spanish langugage in the Cornwall Record Office. The Letter-book remains in private hands. The publication is a remarkable source for maritime history and the life of a remarkable Cornishman.
John Enys, soldier
John EnysJohn Enys
Lieutenant Colonel John Enys was a British Army officer who served during the American Revolution.-Family and education:...
(17 December 1757 – 30 July 1818), son of John Enys and Lucy Basset, was British soldier during the American Revolution and the War with France.
John Samuel Enys
John Samuel EnysJohn Samuel Enys
John Samuel Enys was a British mining engineer and scientist who wrote several important papers on the "duty" of steam engines and other types of power delivery, from water wheels to horses, and made numerous studies on the extensive mining works in his home of Cornwall, England.Enys was born 21...
was born 21 September 1796, son of Samuel Hunt and Luce Ann Enys, his wife, the daughter of Samuel Enys. In 1813, his mother reverted her name from Hunt to Enys, after the death of her husband. He was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1824. In 1833 John Samuel Enys engaged Henry Harrison , a London architect, to produce designs for the garden as well as the house. Amongst these features was the Ladies Garden, later called the Flower Garden"
He married, on 17 April 1834 Catherine Gilbert, eldest daughter of Davies Gilbert
Davies Gilbert
Davies Gilbert FRS was a British engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on 17 November 1791 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1827 to 1830....
(1767–1839), a President of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
and Mary Ann Gilbert
Mary Ann Gilbert
-Marriage:On 18 April 1808, she married Davies Giddy, a Cornish landowner, who had served as High Sheriff of the Duchy. He was an M.P. for Cornish constituencies from 1806 to 1832. Among his roles in Parliament was as Chairman of the Board of Agriculture. Mary Ann Gilbert was passionately concerned...
(c. 1776 – 26 April 1845), his wife.
Their children were: :
- Jane Mary (1835 - 1874) .
- Francis Gilbert (30 July 1836 - 13 July 1906), who was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1876.
- John Davies (11 October 1837 – 7 Nov 1912 .
- Charles (18 December 1840 - January 1891) .
- Mary Anne
None of the brothers married. On August 28, 1860 Jane Mary Enys married Captain Henry Rogers RN
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
.
John Davies Enys
John Davies Enys was the son of John Samuel EnysJohn Samuel Enys
John Samuel Enys was a British mining engineer and scientist who wrote several important papers on the "duty" of steam engines and other types of power delivery, from water wheels to horses, and made numerous studies on the extensive mining works in his home of Cornwall, England.Enys was born 21...
and Catherine Gilbert.
He was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
.
In the 1850s he attended lectures at the Geological Society of London
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth"...
, took walking tours in Britain and carefully recorded discoveries of ferns, wild-flowers and shells, establishing a pattern of life as an inveterate collector and keen amateur naturalist.
He settled in South Island, New Zealand, at Castle Hill
Castle Hill, New Zealand
Castle Hill is a location and a high country station in New Zealand's South Island. It is located at an altitude of 700 metres, close to State Highway 73 between Darfield and Arthur's Pass. It is private property....
, where he raised sheep and studied the local fauna, flora and geology. His brother, Charles joined him.