Trewella descendant

[wadeben34]

Hello 😊

Initially posted in new members but see there is a thread for trewella so though better I posted here. I stumbled on a thread about theophilus c bennette. I know myself to be a direct descendant. I’m part of the South African family you mention. I see there is allot about this man changing his name and moving to SA. Very Complicated. It would make him my great x3 grandfather if I’m correct. Like you say me ancestors all bore the names of the family in UK so your assumptions seem correct and that would be far to coincidental. Be great to chat to anyone who knows anything.

Thanks

Wade bennette

[Cornish Terrier]

Hi Wade - anything you might be able to add, especially regarding the earlier members of this family, would be most welcome and appreciated. Meantime I am happy to help you with anything I know about the family.

I think the name initially popped up on Ancestry24 or perhaps in the SA Archives sites many years ago. It had me intrigued for many years but as I worked on the various Trewhella/Trewhella etc. families there were little things that I found that eventually led me to the conclusion that Theophilus was actually a Trewella by birth. Whilst I do not have definitive proof I do believe he was born at Lymm in Cheshire to Henry Trewella and his wife Elizabeth (nee Bennetts) about 1827. Henry Trewella was a Baptist Minister and seems to have moved about the country quite a bit up until his death in 1843 at North Shields, Tyne and Wear.

Theophilus Trewella had at least a couple of brushes with the law and in 1852 was sentenced to 7 years transportation. It seems probable that he was not ultimately transported but I know virtually nothing of him prior to him turning up in South Africa. The only other link I have is rather tenuous and although I believe Theophilus to be the culprit I have not yet made the link in my database.

In 1856 in the Truro Wesleyan Circuit there is a baptism for an Emily Miriam Trewella whose parents were listed as Cornelius and Catherine Trewella. Emily was born in Bethnal Green in London in July 1856 and died near St Austell in Cornwall in 1860.

Census entries around this are confusing and I never ever found 'Cornelius' and Catherine Trewella together. However I did find enough to prove that Catherine was actually born 'Catherine Trewella Bennett' at Kenwyn near Truroin 1830. She was a daughter of Thomas Bennett and Nancy Trewhella who was a first cousin to Theophilus Trewella.

The final piece of information I have at the moment that more or less 'clinches' things is that in one of the criminal records Theophilus Trewella is referred to as Theophilus CORNELIUS Trewella!

I believe therefore that all of this revolves around the same man and that on arrival (or perhaps shortly prior) he took on the name Theophilus Trewella Bennette.

Too much circumstantial evidence to ignore with this.

BTW the 1820 Settlers site has this family included and states that Theophilus was born about 1820. This is quite incorrect as far as his age is concerned and if memory serves that can be proved with later records. Perhaps more important is the fact that Theophilus is accepted as part of the 1820 Settlers group when in fact he was at least 30 years from ever setting foot in South Africa.

CT

[wadeben34]

Hi CT

Thanks for your reply and just wanted to say I love your attention to detail and your passion for all of this. Without your insights I would still know so little about my ancestor.

So the reason you started seeing information on 1820 settlers and ancestory24 is the result of one of my cousins who decided to do some research. I think some of her facts like Theophilus’s birth of 1820 and that he was a headmaster in Cornwall are incorrect. Not sure where she got that info from. I think your findings are more accurate and make more sense to me.

Also not sure if you would find this interesting, but when I found out that Theophilus was from Cornwall UK, it confused me a bit. You probably asking why would it right? I am not sure how this happened or who started the belief, but basically our family has always been told we came from Italy of all places!!! I get that Bennette doesn’t look Italian, but it is pronounced in South Africa as Bennetti, so I suppose it’s because of the ‘e’ at the end. Apparently our ancestor was banished from Italy (which apparently could happen in those days) and went to live in India for a few years after then finally moving to South Africa. What is interesting is that our family always knew that this first ancestor to South Africa was banished because he was in trouble with the law. Now reading the work you have done this makes the link even stronger because we now know Theophilus was in trouble in UK and this part of the story is in fact true. His criminal past did seem to follow him for generations. I am just fascinated as to why our surname is pronounced with a i. I assume the surname would have initially been pronounced as Bennett. You also mention that there is a Bennett in the family, so why add the e..?

Other than that I am not sure what more I can contribute. I don’t know to much and not much was past down. If you have any questions I will try my best to find out.

[Cornish Terrier]

Hi Wade - if you can give me an outline of your family and where you link back into the earlier generations it would be helpful.
As there will be living persons involved it is probably best not to do that on the open forum but you could do it by the Private Message function. Alternately, if it suits you better, we could do things like that via email.

BTW - have you thought about taking a DNA test at all? That would be a good way of proving the links back to Cornwall rather than Italy but it would also help with working out some of the other Trewhella links I have been working on.

CT

[wadeben34]

Hi CT

Ok let me rather private message you, email is probably better ill send it to you. I initially only knew as far back as Gilbert Bennette who is my Great Grandfather. The 1820 settler site does fill in the rest of the gaps but happy to talk about the more recent family and send you what I know.

Yes I have been wanting to do DNA test for ages. Any good ones you know of that I can look into?

Thanks

Wade

[Cornish Terrier]

Hi Wade - I've just sent you a brief email so you have my address.

Re: DNA testing - ideally for the Paternal line the Y-Chomosome test would be best but it is the more expensive. Autosomal is not a bad start though and I think probably Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) is about as good as they get. Or you could also try Ancestry if it is available in South Africa.

I have done the Ancestry Autosomal test and also the Y-DNA test through FTDNA. The latter has been able to confirm links between some of the previously individual Trewhella (var.) families in Cornwall. Those families also involve a family that went to Russian around 1815, another that went to Chile around 1853 and, of course, several in the USA. That is not to forget Australia and New Zealand of course!

Regards,

CT

[briteyesg]

Hello CT Yes I am looking re the families that settled in NZ. I have a Edward James Trewhella born Redruth Cornwall marries to Sarah Ann Imison B: Dublin Ireland.
While NZ is in lockdown I have access to Ancestry for free so will keep looking back to where Edward came from. His dad & Mum are James and Catharine Pidwell but I have no other details so far.

[briteyesg]

Edward and Sarah had the following children.
John Trewhella
1885–1926
Edward James Trewheela
1885–1950
William Hector George Trewhella Sgt
1886–1917
Thomas Trewhella
1888–1957
And one more Owen Denis Trewheela different spellings for different registration clerks.

Joseph Henry Trewhella Corp.
1890–1917

Emmaline Marion Trewhella
1893–

Henry James Trewheela
1906–1946

[Cornish Terrier]

Hi Briteyesg - Yes, I met some of the descendants of this family when I was in NZ in 1993 so I have quite a bit of information about them. Rather than tell you everything I have I will let you continue on to search out information for yourself. Much more interesting that way and you will learn more along the way.

But there is one thing I can tell you …..

Owen Dennis and Henry James Trewheela/Trewhella were NOT sons of Edward James Trewhella. They, along with an elder sister (Mary Elizabeth Trewheela b.1897) were children of Denis Anderson. Their births are registered as follows:-

Mary Ann Elizabeth ANDERSON Reg. No. 1897/3981 (parents Denis and Sarah Ann)
Henry James ANDERSON Reg. No. 1905/10150 (parents Henry and Sarah)
Dennis Owen ANDERSON Reg. No. 1907/10645 (parents Dennis and Sarah)

I am not sure why Henry James father was recorded as 'Henry' but it may be similar to Cornish records where you can often find such errors involving the forename being duplicated.

Feel free to contact me at any time with questions and I will be happy to help. In the meantime take advantage of the free resources and enjoy yourself during the current lockdowns.

CT

[briteyesg]

Thanks so much CT

[lisas]

Oct 30, 2019 4:53:46 GMT -5 wadeben34 said:

Hi CT

Thanks for your reply and just wanted to say I love your attention to detail and your passion for all of this. Without your insights I would still know so little about my ancestor.

So the reason you started seeing information on 1820 settlers and ancestory24 is the result of one of my cousins who decided to do some research. I think some of her facts like Theophilus’s birth of 1820 and that he was a headmaster in Cornwall are incorrect. Not sure where she got that info from. I think your findings are more accurate and make more sense to me.

Also not sure if you would find this interesting, but when I found out that Theophilus was from Cornwall UK, it confused me a bit. You probably asking why would it right? I am not sure how this happened or who started the belief, but basically our family has always been told we came from Italy of all places!!! I get that Bennette doesn’t look Italian, but it is pronounced in South Africa as Bennetti, so I suppose it’s because of the ‘e’ at the end. Apparently our ancestor was banished from Italy (which apparently could happen in those days) and went to live in India for a few years after then finally moving to South Africa. What is interesting is that our family always knew that this first ancestor to South Africa was banished because he was in trouble with the law. Now reading the work you have done this makes the link even stronger because we now know Theophilus was in trouble in UK and this part of the story is in fact true. His criminal past did seem to follow him for generations. I am just fascinated as to why our surname is pronounced with a i. I assume the surname would have initially been pronounced as Bennett. You also mention that there is a Bennett in the family, so why add the e..?

Other than that I am not sure what more I can contribute. I don’t know to much and not much was past down. If you have any questions I will try my best to find out.

[lisas]

Hi Wade!
My Grandfather was Edwin Wolseley Bennette and his father was Theophilus (according to 1820 settlers) so I think that makes us related!! My grandmother still lives in Port Elizabeth, my family and I now live in the UK.
I’ve always felt such a draw to Cornwall! Amazing
Lisa