Constituency Dates
Reigate [1593]
Bletchingley [1597]
Reigate [1601]
Bletchingley [1604], [1614]
Bodmin [1621]
East Looe [1625]
Family and Education
b. 1563, 2nd s. of John Trevor of Trevalyn, Denb. by Mary, da. of Sir George Brydges of London; bro. of Sir Richard and Thomas. m. 24 May 1592, Margaret, da. of Sir Hugh Trevanion of Caerhayes, Cornw., 4s (1 d.v.p.) 2da. Kntd. 1603.1DWB; SP29/80/59; Suss. N. and Q. xv. 339.
Offices Held

Sec. to Charles Howard I by 1595; surveyor of navy 1599 – 1611; clerk of Windsor castle and steward and receiver of manor and honour of Windsor 1598; keeper of Chatham castle; keeper of Oatlands park 1603; gent. usher of privy chamber by 1603; gent of privy chamber 1625.2Lansd. 133, f. 25; CSP Dom. 1598–1601, p. 14; 1603–10, pp. 13, 52; APC, xxv. 54; SP14/60; pat. rolls 1598; LC 2/4/4

Address
Main residence: Oatlands, Surr.
biography text

Trevor was a Welshman whose father had been a servant of the Sackville family. Lord Buckhurst referred in 1601 to his ‘cousin’ Trevor in a letter to Robert Cecil, and it may have been he who brought Trevor to the notice of Charles Howard the lord admiral. Trevor was in close attendance upon Howard by 1593, when he was returned for one of the Surrey boroughs dominated by the family. Until his retirement in 1619 Howard kept a seat for Trevor in every Parliament at either Bletchingley or Reigate. Trevor was on the subsidy committee, 28 Feb. and 1 Mar.1593, but no mention of him is to be found in the comparatively well reported 1597 Parliament. It is thus uncertain whether it was he or Thomas Trevor who sat on two committees, 9 Dec. 1601, for ships and seamen (this must surely have been John) and the assurance of certain unspecified manors. It was probably John who was asked to collect the poor money, 17 Dec. 1601.3PCC 64 Leicester; HMC Hatfield, iv. 292; xi. 572; D’Ewes, 478, 481, 673, 674, 687; Trans. Cymmrod. Soc. (1942), 32-3.

Trevor augmented his official salaries with the profits of various ventures of his own, and charges of fraud were brought against him in 1608. He resisted a proposed inquiry into naval administration, 1613, and was himself among those appointed to inquire into abuses in the navy in 1626.4Lansd. 144, f. 497; 151, f. 151; HMC Hatfield, xi. 449; xviii. 40; M. Oppenheim, Admin. of Royal Navy, 149, 192; HMC Cowper, i. 41; CSP Dom. 1603-10, p. 409; 1625-6, p. 494; Cal. Salusbury Corresp. ed. Smith, 141; Trans. Cymmrod. Soc. (1974/5), 77-102.

He enjoyed a cut from the lord admiral’s farm of sweet wines, and another from the farm of the duty on Newcastle coals. His income exposed him to government demands for loans in his later years. By 1621 he had attached himself to the 3rd Earl of Pembroke, who provided him with Cornish borough seats in Parliament. Three of his children were buried in Weybridge church between 1590 and 1605. Trevor died at Plas Teg 2 Feb. 1630, and was buried in Hope church.5CSP Dom. 1628-9, p. 475; APC, 1618-19, p. 222; Surr. Arch. Colls. xvii. 80; HMC Sackville, i. 90, 175; Manning and Bray, Surr. ii. 790.

Author
H.G.O.
Volume
Commons 1558-1603
Notes
  • 1. DWB; SP29/80/59; Suss. N. and Q. xv. 339.
  • 2. Lansd. 133, f. 25; CSP Dom. 1598–1601, p. 14; 1603–10, pp. 13, 52; APC, xxv. 54; SP14/60; pat. rolls 1598; LC 2/4/4
  • 3. PCC 64 Leicester; HMC Hatfield, iv. 292; xi. 572; D’Ewes, 478, 481, 673, 674, 687; Trans. Cymmrod. Soc. (1942), 32-3.
  • 4. Lansd. 144, f. 497; 151, f. 151; HMC Hatfield, xi. 449; xviii. 40; M. Oppenheim, Admin. of Royal Navy, 149, 192; HMC Cowper, i. 41; CSP Dom. 1603-10, p. 409; 1625-6, p. 494; Cal. Salusbury Corresp. ed. Smith, 141; Trans. Cymmrod. Soc. (1974/5), 77-102.
  • 5. CSP Dom. 1628-9, p. 475; APC, 1618-19, p. 222; Surr. Arch. Colls. xvii. 80; HMC Sackville, i. 90, 175; Manning and Bray, Surr. ii. 790.