Borlase

Borlase is a Cornish surname and masculine given name.

One Cornish gentry family of the surname was historically associated with Borlase in St Wenn, Treludderow in Newlyn East and, through a western branch, Pendeen and Castle Horneck near Penzance; collateral branches became established in Buckinghamshire and in Ireland and Chester.[1][2]

Cornish family

Origins and early descent

Nineteenth-century genealogical accounts connected the Cornish Borlases with the Taillefer family of Périgord and the counts of Angoulême.[3][4] William Copeland Borlase subsequently qualified this account in the corrigenda to his history, stating that the French material had been summarized from earlier genealogical works and that he did not vouch for its historical accuracy.[5] P. A. S. Pool likewise described the descent from the French Taillefers as a claim made by the family rather than as an established part of the pedigree.[6]

W. C. Borlase regarded the documentable pedigree as beginning in the later 13th century with William Frank Taillefer of Borlas Frank Taillefer in St Wenn.[7] The estate from which the family took its name remained associated with the elder line until the 16th century; a conveyance cited by Borlase recorded that John Borlase had sold Borlase, or Burlace Burgess, to John Hender "in or about 1559", while other substantial family estates were also alienated during the later 16th century.[8] A part called Middle Borlase was bought back into the family in 1832 by John Borlase, a descendant of the elder line, although this did not represent a restoration of the old estate in its entirety.[8]

A major division of the family followed the marriage of Walter Borlase to the heiress of Treludderow in Newlyn East.[6] W. C. Borlase's later correction to the earlier printed pedigree identifies Walter as a son of John Borlas of Borlas and states that the principal Cornish branches descended from him; it also corrects the earlier placement of Edward Borlase, ancestor of the Buckinghamshire branch, making Edward Walter's brother rather than his son.[9][10]

Branches

Treludderow

Walter Borlase of Treludderow died about 1550, and Pool states that the senior Cornish branch remained at Treludderow for more than 150 years.[6] Among its later representatives was Nicholas Borlase, a Royalist during the English Civil War, who died in 1677.[11][12] His son Humphrey Borlase represented Mitchell in Parliament in 1672, served as High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1687 and died without issue in 1709.[11][12]

Humphrey devised his estate to his kinsman John Borlase of Pendeen, but the Treludderow property was heavily encumbered; the inherited estate was consequently not retained as a permanent addition to the Pendeen properties.[11][13]

Buckinghamshire

The Buckinghamshire branch descended from Edward Borlase, a London mercer who died in 1544 and was a younger son of the St Wenn family and brother of Walter of Treludderow.[11][9] Edward's son John Borlase acquired the manor of Little Marlow and Bockmer at Medmenham in about 1560.[11][14] The family continued there for several generations and produced the Borlase baronets of Bockmer.[11][14]

The male line of the Buckinghamshire branch ended with the death of the second baronet in 1688, leaving an only daughter, Anne.[11][15] The manor of Little Marlow subsequently descended through the female line and was sold about 1781.[15] Admiral John Borlase Warren was a descendant of this female line.[11]

Ireland and Chester

Another branch descended from Edmund Borlase, a younger son of Walter Borlase of Treludderow.[16][17] Edmund's descendant Sir John Borlase (1575–1647) was a soldier and administrator in Ireland, becoming Master of the Ordnance there in 1634 and one of the Lords Justices of Ireland in 1640.[16][17] The male line ended in 1682 with Edmund Borlase, a physician and writer who practised at Chester.[16][17]

Gilbert's 1820 pedigree should be treated cautiously at this point, since it conflated the Irish Lord Justice with the Buckinghamshire Sir John Borlase who was created a baronet in 1642; W. C. Borlase later explicitly distinguished the two men, and Pool assigns them to separate branches.[18][19][20]

Pendeen and Castle Horneck

Pendeen House. John Borlase purchased the property in 1637.[16]

The western Cornish branch descended from another Walter Borlase, a younger son of Walter of Treludderow.[16] He lived at Trannack in Sithney, married Mary Lanyon and died in 1602.[16][21] His widow married William Chiverton of Kerris in Paul in 1604 and took most of her children to Kerris; Pool identifies this move as the establishment of the first Borlases in the Penwith district.[16]

One of Walter's younger sons, John Borlase, invested his inheritance in tin bounds and became sufficiently prosperous to purchase Pendeen House from John Eva in 1637; in the same year he married Christian, or Cheston, Pawley.[16] Pendeen House was damaged during the Civil War, and John died in 1664.[16] His son John Borlase (1643–1693) restored the house in 1670 and enlarged the estate.[16][21]

The next John Borlase (1666–1755), who married Lydia Harris in 1690, was the father of Walter Borlase (1694–1776) and the antiquary William Borlase (1696–1772).[22][23] By May 1718 John had acquired Castle Horneck, which he intended as a seat for Walter, together with Rosecadghill for his own later use.[24] Walter had been established at Castle Horneck by 1724, while John had moved from Pendeen to Rosecadghill in the preceding year, 1723.[25]

Castle Horneck, acquired by John Borlase before May 1718 as a seat for his heir Walter.[26]

Walter Borlase of Castle Horneck died in 1776 and was ultimately succeeded by his son Samuel Borlase (1735–1801), then by Samuel's brother William Borlase (1741–1812), vicar of Madron and Zennor.[27][28] On William's death the principal estates passed to his cousin John Borlase (1768–1813), a grandson of the antiquary William Borlase.[29][30] They subsequently descended to John's son Samuel Borlase (1798–1866), to Samuel's son John Borlase (1829–1889), and finally to John's daughters Lydia Harris Borlase (1856–1939) and Caroline Anne Borlase (1857–1934), whom Pool describes as the last Borlases of Castle Horneck.[31][30]

Castle Horneck was subsequently sold for use as a youth hostel; the Youth Hostels Association records the opening of the hostel there in 1949.[29][32] Pool recorded in 1986 that Pendeen House and the associated St Just properties had instead descended through the family of Catherine Borlase, daughter of Walter of Castle Horneck and wife of William Tremenheere, and that Pendeen had not changed hands by sale since John Borlase's purchase in 1637.[29]

Principal seats

Seat or estate Branch Establishment or acquisition Later history
Borlase / Burlace Burgess, St Wenn Elder St Wenn line The place from which the family took its territorial identification in the medieval pedigree.[7] John Borlase sold it to John Hender in or about 1559; Middle Borlase was bought back by an elder-line descendant in 1832.[8]
Treludderow, Newlyn East Senior Cornish branch Walter Borlase settled at Treludderow through marriage to its heiress; his senior descendants remained there for more than 150 years.[6] Humphrey Borlase died without issue in 1709; although the estate was devised to John Borlase of Pendeen, encumbrances prevented its durable retention by that branch.[11]
Trannack, Sithney Ancestors of the Pendeen branch Walter Borlase lived there with his wife Mary Lanyon and died in 1602.[16] His widow remarried in 1604 and moved most of the family to Kerris.[16]
Kerris, Paul Early Penwith branch Mary Borlase and most of her children moved there following her marriage to William Chiverton in 1604.[16] Her son John subsequently established his own branch at Pendeen after purchasing Pendeen House in 1637.[16]
Pendeen House, Pendeen Pendeen branch Purchased by John Borlase from John Eva in 1637 and restored by his son John in 1670.[16] John Borlase (1666–1755) moved his principal residence from Pendeen to Rosecadghill in 1723, but Pendeen remained family property; Pool recorded in 1986 that it had not changed hands by sale since 1637.[33]
Rosecadghill, Madron Pendeen branch Acquired by John Borlase before May 1718 for his own later residence.[24] John moved there from Pendeen in 1723.[25]
Castle Horneck, near Penzance Castle Horneck branch Acquired by John Borlase before May 1718 for his heir Walter, who had been established there by 1724.[26] The estate descended through the Borlases to Lydia Harris Borlase and Caroline Anne Borlase, the last Borlases of Castle Horneck; the house was later sold for use as a youth hostel.[29][32]
Little Marlow and Bockmer, Medmenham, Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire branch John Borlase, son of Edward Borlase, acquired Little Marlow and Bockmer about 1560.[11][14] The male Borlase line ended with the second baronet in 1688; W. C. Borlase dates the eventual sale of Little Marlow manor to about 1781.[11][15]

Heraldry

The arms of John Borlase Warren include the Borlase coat in the second quarter.[34]

W. C. Borlase described an early-Tudor form of the family arms as an ermine field with a black bend bearing two silver-clad arms issuing from clouds and breaking a gold horseshoe.[34] Charles Sandoe Gilbert's 1820 heraldic survey illustrates the Borlase arms on plate VI and records five additional quarterings used with them.[35]

People with the surname

People with the given name

  • Borlase Wyndham Childs (1876–1946), British Army major-general and Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (London)
  • Borlase Warren (1677–1747), English Member of Parliament
  • Borlase Richmond Webb (c. 1696 – 1738), British landowner and Tory politician

Bibliography

  • Borlase, William Copeland (1885). "History of the Family of Taillefer alias Borlase of Borlas Frank Taillefer in the County of Cornwall". The Genealogist. New Series. 2. London: George Bell & Sons: 1–14, 129–141, 225–239, 283–292.
  • Borlase, William Copeland (1886). "History of the Family of Borlase". The Genealogist. New Series. 3. London: George Bell & Sons: 53–63.
  • Borlase, William Copeland (1887). "History of the Family of Borlase". The Genealogist. New Series. 4. London: George Bell & Sons: 160–165.
  • Borlase, William Copeland (1889). "History of the Family of Borlase". The Genealogist. New Series. 5. London: George Bell & Sons: 29–35.
  • Gilbert, Charles Sandoe (1820). An Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall: To Which Is Added, a Complete Heraldry of the Same; with Numerous Engravings. Vol. 2. Plymouth-Dock: J. Congdon. pp. 42–46.
  • Pool, Peter A S (1986). William Borlase. Truro: Royal Institution of Cornwall.

References

  1. ↑ Pool 1986, pp. 8–11.
  2. ↑ Borlase 1886, pp. 58–63.
  3. ↑ Gilbert 1820, p. 42.
  4. ↑ Borlase 1885, pp. 6, 9–12.
  5. ↑ Borlase 1885, Corrigenda to p. 6.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Pool 1986, p. 9.
  7. 1 2 Borlase 1885, p. 13.
  8. 1 2 3 Borlase 1885, p. 141.
  9. 1 2 Borlase 1886, p. 58.
  10. ↑ Pool 1986, pp. 9–10.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pool 1986, p. 10.
  12. 1 2 Borlase 1889, pp. 29–35.
  13. ↑ Gilbert 1820, pp. 42–43.
  14. 1 2 3 Borlase 1885, pp. 225–239.
  15. 1 2 3 Borlase 1886, pp. 53–56.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pool 1986, p. 11.
  17. 1 2 3 Borlase 1887, pp. 160–165.
  18. ↑ Gilbert 1820, p. 43.
  19. ↑ Borlase 1885, p. 288.
  20. ↑ Pool 1986, pp. 10–11.
  21. 1 2 Pool 1986, p. 305.
  22. ↑ Pool 1986, pp. 11–12.
  23. ↑ Pool 1986, pp. 305–306.
  24. 1 2 Pool 1986, p. 17.
  25. 1 2 Pool 1986, p. 23.
  26. 1 2 Pool 1986, pp. 17, 23.
  27. ↑ Pool 1986, pp. 275–276.
  28. ↑ Pool 1986, p. 306.
  29. 1 2 3 4 Pool 1986, p. 276.
  30. 1 2 Pool 1986, p. 307.
  31. ↑ Pool 1986, pp. 276–277.
  32. 1 2 "YHA Penzance". Youth Hostels Association. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  33. ↑ Pool 1986, pp. 23, 276.
  34. 1 2 Borlase 1885, pp. 8–9.
  35. ↑ Gilbert 1820, p. 46.
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