Francis Tregian the Elder

Francis Tregian the Elder (1548–1608) was the son of John Tregian of Wolvenden of Probus, Cornwall and Catherine Arundell. A staunch Catholic, he inherited substantial estates on the death of his father, including the manors of Bedock, Landegy, Lanner and Carvolghe, and the family home, 'Golden', in the parish of Probus, near Truro. He was the father of Francis Tregian the Younger, notable for his musical interests.

Francis Tregian was the son of John Tregian of Wolvenden of Probus, Cornwall and Catherine Arundell, the daughter of Sir John and Lady Elizabeth Arundell of Lanherne. He had resided at Court in order to help the persecuted Catholics. In 1576 Tregian harboured at Golden Manor House a Catholic seminary priest, Cuthbert Mayne, who passed as his steward.

On 8 June 1577, the Sheriff of Cornwall, Sir Richard Grenville surrounded the house with some hundred men and arrested both Tregian and Mayne. The assizes was held in Launceston, Cornwall on 16 September 1577. Tregian was indicted under the Statute of Praemunire prohibiting dissemination of papal bulls. Mayne had a souvenir copy of a proclamation regarding the 1575 Holy Year dispensation, and it was supposed that he intended to give it to Tregian. Tregian was held in the Marshalsea for ten months before being returned to Cornwall for trial. At first the jury would return no verdict, but after threats from the judges a conviction was obtained.

Tregian's death sentence was remitted to imprisonment and his property confiscated. He was incarcerated at Windsor and then in various London prisons for twenty-eight years, eventually winding up at Fleet Prison, where his wife joined him. On the petition of his friends, he was released by King James I.

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