Summary
Silvanus Trevail (11 November 1851 – 7 November 1903) was a British architect, and the most prominent Cornish architect of the 19th century.
Silvanus Trevail | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 November 1851 |
| Died | 7 November 1903 (aged 52) Brownqueen Tunnel, Cornwall |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings | Carbis Bay Hotel Headland Hotel Housel Bay Hotel King Arthur's Castle Hotel St Lawrence's Hospital Great Western Hotel (Newquay) |
Early life edit
Trevail was born at Carne Farm, Trethurgy, in the parish of Luxulyan, Cornwall on 11 November 1851.[1][2]
Career edit
Trevail rose to become Mayor of Truro and, nationally, President of the architects' professional body, the Society of Architects.[3]
He was Cornwall's most famous architect, certainly of the 19th century. Following the Education Act of 1870 which created Board Schools, Trevail designed around fifty such schools throughout the county. He also designed hotels including the Headland Hotel, Newquay, Carbis Bay Hotel in Carbis Bay, and restored the church at Temple. He was said to be a man ahead of his time, a campaigner for sanitation improvements and an entrepreneur.
Selected works edit
- Atlantic Hotel, Newquay
- Great Western Hotel (Newquay)
- Carbis Bay Hotel, Carbis Bay
- Housel Bay Hotel, The Lizard
- Castle Hotel, Tintagel
- Headland Hotel, Newquay
- St Lawrence's Hospital, Bodmin (which was demolished between September 2013 and February 2014).[4]
Death edit
His success however, did not bring him happiness. Trevail had a history of depression and had been unwell for some time before killing himself. On 7 November 1903 he shot himself in the lavatory of a train[5] as it entered Brownqueen Tunnel a short distance from Bodmin Road railway station.[6]
References edit
- ^ Harradence, Hazel (2003). "You Never Know!". Silvanus Trevail Newsletter. The Silvanus Trevail Trust. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ Best, R. S. The life and good works of John Passmore Edwards, with an appendix on the architect Silvanus Trevail, who designed nine Passmore Edwards buildings (pp. 47-48). Dyllansow Truran (1982) ISBN 0-907566-18-9.
- ^ Shepherd, Matt (5 January 2015). "Silvanus Trevail". BBC. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ Morris, Jonathan (22 September 2013). "Historic Bodmin dancehall to be demolished". BBC News. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- ^ "SILVANUS TREVAIL DEAD.; President of British Royal Society of Architects Believed to Have Killed Himself". The New York Times. 8 November 1903. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
- ^ Laws, Peter (2002). "Silvanus Trevail Society Newsletter: Talk given by Peter Laws". The Silvanus Trevail Society. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
Further reading edit
- Perry, Ronald (2009) "Silvanus Trevail: social reformer, developer, architect", in: Ferry, Kathryn, ed. Powerhouses of Provincial Architecture, 1837-1914. London: Victorian Society; pp. 15–27
External links edit
- "The Silvanus Trevail Society".
- BBC Inside Out, on Silvanus Trevail and the Newquay riots
- Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Silvanus Trevail
- There are biographical references to Silvanus Trevail on the Library & Museum of Freemasonry website, www.freemasonry.london.museum under classmark BE68(Tre)Roy, which contains reference to a copy of the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall for 2001