Robert Trelawney

Robert Trelawney (25 March 1598 – 1643) was an English merchant and colonist who settled lands in Maine USA and a politician who sat in the House of Commons of England from 1640 to 1642.

The son of Robert Trelawney, who was three times mayor of Plymouth, Trelawney was a merchant and colonist at the settlement. On 1 December 1631 the Plymouth Company granted he and his partner Moses Goodyeare a patent for a tract of land between Spurwink River and Presumpscot River and for Richmond's Island at Cape Elizabeth, Maine.[1] In 1633 Trelawney was elected Mayor of Plymouth.[2] He built Ham House near Plymouth in 1639.[3]

In April 1640, Trelawney was elected Member of Parliament for Plymouth for the Short Parliament. He was re-elected in November 1640 for the Long Parliament,[4] but was expelled from the House of Commons in March 1642 and committed to prison for publicly stating that the Commons had no power to appoint a guard for themselves without the King's consent.

Trelawney married Elizabeth Mayne, daughter of Alexander Mayne, in 1620. He was the father of Samuel Trelawney, who was also MP for Plymouth.[5]

References

1. William Durkee Williamson The history of the state of Maine: from its first discovery, Volume 1
2. Plymouth Council - List of Mayors Archived 30 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
3. This is Plymouth Ham House
4. Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 229–239.
5. Robert Burke A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain Volume 4

Parliament of England
Preceded by Parliament suspended since 1629	Member of Parliament for Plymouth 1640–1642 With: John Waddon	Succeeded by John Waddon Sir John Yonge, 1st Baronet