by Keith Retallick – December 2000
In the outside wall of the village Church of Quethiock in East Cornwall there is a sundial bearing this legend – “E Morshead Vicr, John Retallick Churchwarden, 1764″. I first discovered this memorial in 1978 but did not connect it with my own family at the time, being just one piece of information among so many. For years I followed one trail after another taking me all over Cornwall. Eventually it became obvious that this very same John Retallick was my great grandfather seven generations back. Since then I have been able to fill in many of the gaps and trace my direct line back here to Quethiock in the early 1600s.
Quethiock is farming country. The parish was part of the large estate of the Coryton family of Pentillie, which reaches to the banks of the Tamar. The Corytons were land-owners here for the best part of 400 years. Fortunately many of the estate records have survived, and much information about leases and other useful historical sources are available at the Cornwall Record Office. They have been indexed meticulously by the CRO so that it is possible to find many original documents going back before 1600.
The Churchwarden’s great grandfather was Walter Retallock who married Elizabeth Philp in 1630 at Quethiock. Not until about 1698 is there confirmation that they became influential in the farming community, and it was then that William Retallack, a Cooper and Walter’s grandson, took a lease at Quethiock on a farm called Coombe, where he farmed sheep, cattle, some arable land and orchards. William died in 1720 and his Will shows fascinating details about his estate including a detailed valuation.
William’s son, John (the Churchwarden), inherited the farm which subsequently was enlarged with the acquisition of leases on further land. He seems to have been sufficiently influential in the village to have his name inscribed on one of the church bells; the date 1724. He married Elizabeth Hoskin in 1726 in the parish church at Quethiock and they produced seven children – two sons and five daughters. The oldest son, William, died in infancy.
Disaster struck, in 1742, when John died at the age of 42 leaving Elizabeth with six children all under the age of twelve years. The youngest, also John, was only eighteen months old at the time. Elizabeth must have had remarkable resilience because within six years, in addition to continuing Coombe Farm, she had taken the lease of Ley Farm at St Ive which had been the Hoskin family home since around 1650. John Retallick, the younger, took over Ley Farm and continued there till he retired in 1811. The farm was relinquished and thus ended the Quethiock Retallicks’ careers in farming. From this point the family drifted away from Quethiock, first to Stoke Climsland, near Callington. Elizabeth died in 1779, having retired to Stoke Climsland. John also and his wife Jane (Batten), lived there till their deaths in 1814 and 1822 respectively.
In the early 1800s the various children of John and Jane Retallick gravitated further afield and eventually crossed the Tamar to Tavistock where they continued for another two generations until my great, great grandfather made the leap to Kensington in London. So our Cornish days were over, but the roots are still there.
On the sundial at Quethiock is a quotation from the Book of Common Prayer – “So soon passeth it away” – how true!
