TREFFRY, William

William descended from the branch of the Treffry family resident at Tremure, some miles to the north of Bodmin.1 The MP must be distinguished from a namesake, the ‘husbandman’ William Tremure of Polshet, who was active at the same period: CPR, 1436-41, pp. 14, 101, 109. In keeping with Cornish custom, the family was often known by their place of residence as an alternative surname, and it was under that epithet that William secured election for the borough of Liskeard in 1433. The background to the election is obscure, for he is not known to have had interests in the borough. Not long after his spell in the Commons, Treffry found himself accused of a serious misdemeanour: on 21 Feb. 1434 a coroner’s inquest at Bodmin found that around 4 o’clock the previous afternoon he had been involved in a violent altercation with one William Hoper, a local man. In the course of this, Treffry had stabbed Hoper in the chest, while an associate, Alan Bosvorveth of Tregathelos, had struck him in the stomach with a cudgel, and between them they had killed him. The case was heard by the King’s bench the following year, and Treffry and his associate denied the accusation. The defendants were released on bail, and despite several adjournments, no verdict appears to have been reached.2 KB27/696, rex rot. 23d.

Few details of Treffry’s later career have come to light, but he appears to have survived for some years. It may have been he who in July 1462 served on a local jury at Camelford for the inquisition post mortem of William, Lord Botreaux.3 C140/7/15, m. 12. If this was so, it is plausible that he was also the man who was appointed to a commission tasked with the arrest of Sir Hugh Courtenay* of Boconnoc and some of his associates on charges of piracy in March 1465.4 CPR, 1461-7, p. 452.