TREGONEY, a borough and market-town in the
parish of CXIBY, western division of the hundred of POWDER,
county of CORNWALL, 41 miles (S.W.) from Launceston,
and 248 (S.W. by W.) from London, containing
1035 inhabitants. The old town, which stood at the
bottom of the hill on which the present is situated, was
of. considerable antiquity and importance: it had a castle,
supposed to have been built in the reign of Richard L;
and a priory, subordinate to the convent at Merton, in
Surrey. The present town consists chiefly of one street,
and has greatly declined since the increase of Truro.
The Fal, which is here crossed by a bridge, is said to
have been once navigable to this place for small barges.
The market is on Saturday, for meat and other provisions
and fairs are held on Shrove-Tuesday, May 3rd,
July 25th, September 1st, and .November 6th. The
charter of incorporation was granted by James I., in
1620': the municipal body consists of a mayor, recorder,
and eight capital burgesses, or aldermen: the
mayor is elected, annually in September, from among
the aldermen, and, with the senior member of that
body, exercises magisterial authority. The borough
first sent representatives to parliament in the reign of
Edward I., and, after long disuse, recovered the exercise
of that privilege in 1559; the elective franchise is
vested in potwallers; the number of voters is above
three hundred: the mayor is the returning officer,
and the influence of J. A. Gordon, Esq. is predominant
The petty sessions for the south division of the hundred
of Powder are occasionally held here, and courts are
held by the lord of the manor. The living is a vicarage,
with that of St. Keby annexed, in the archdeaconry of
Cornwall, and diocese of Exeter, rated in the king's
books at £10. 4. 2., and in the patronage of J. A. Gordon,
Esq. The church, dedicated to St. James, stands
without the limits of the borough. There are places
of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists.
An hospital for decayed housekeepers was founded here,
in 1696, by Hugh Boscawen, Esq., and endowed with
lands, now let for £30 per annum, but capable of producing
three times that amount, on the expiration of
the present lease.