THE LETTER, THE TREE

AND THE VOLUNTEER

Following this page is a copy of a letter that Mrs. Julia H. Cannan wrote to Mr. Henry Eardley who was the Rector of St. Tudy in 1921. She was thanking him for agreeing to plant the ‘horse chestnut tree’ and explaining the origin of ‘the tree'. On the page after there is a copy of a photograph of the original ‘tree’ that Mrs. Cannan gave to the Reverend Eardley.

After 84 years of being planted, in St. Tudy, the’ tree’ died and was replaced.

The story of the ‘tree’ was published in a local newspaper. My curiosity was immediately aroused! What connection, if any, had Mrs. Julia H. Cannan or her husband Captain Horatius James Cannan have with St. Tudy.

I wonder if we will ever know what happened to the other five trees that Mrs. Cannan referred to in her letter!

I have spent much time searching for a link between the Family, the Rector and or St. Tudy. This has produced some near misses but no real contacts.   In some cases I have boldly assumed a connection between relations although there is no conclusive evidence of one. The census dates and some dates recorded by Ancestry. Com. vary a year. I believe, that this is simply the rounding up or down of the year.

 I record what I have found.

John R. Jackson

February, 2008

            The original St. Tudy Chestnut Tree

As the’ tree’ had become old and a danger, it was felled on 16^th November 2005. The good news was that five years previously a local village boy, Ben Tizzard, had collected and planted conkers from the tree, two survived. Three days later, on 19th November, the strongest of Ben’s trees was planted near the place of the old tree.