HISTORY OF THE MAY NAME :

Although the name MAY has an ancient Norman origin, it first arrived in England with the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name MAY is derived from the Old French work mai. This name was also a nickname for a person with a particularly sunny disposition or a person who had an anecdotal connection with the month of May. Often this connection would be the time that feudal obligations were owed. Nicknames, such as MAY, that described the time or season of the birth, baptism or conversion of the original bearer were frequently adopted in the medieval era. The name has been spelled May, Maye, Mays and Mai.

The first evidence of the MAY family appears to be in Sussex, in southern England. Sussex was once a part of the kingdom of the south Saxons, which was founded in the late 5th century. In 1825, Sussex became a part of the kingdom of Wessex. By the 12th century, the MAY family had expanded in size and branched to Sutton Cheyney in Leicestershire, Rawmere in Sussex, and the county of Berwickshire. Early records of the MAY family reveal that in 1296, William May swore an oath of allegiance to King Edward I of England, who conquered Scotland that year.

A number of early immigrants to North America bore the name MAY or a variant including Cornelius May who arrived in Virginia in 1616, Dorothy May who arrived on the "Mayflower" in 1620, William May settled in St Christopher in 1634 and Peter Maye who landed in the Bay of Bulls, Newfoundland in 1675.

Our May family of Cornwall including TREWEEK, TRELEASE, PAUL, WILLIAMS & SIMMONS Small numbers by a name refer to personal number in listing eg NICHOLAS ^2MAY – see 2.

GENERATION ONE:

1.~ ~ ~ NICHOLAS MAY was born around 1727 in St Mawgan-in-Ryder, Cornwall, England and was the son of WILLIAM MAY and MARY BENNEY (or BERRY). Nicholas married JANE THOMAS on 5 July 1752 at St Mawgan-in-Ryder. Jane was about around 1731.

Children of NICHOLAS MAY and JANE THOMAS included:

NICHOLAS ² MAY, born 1762.

GENERATION TWO:

2. ~ ~ ~ NICHOLAS MAY (NICHOLAS) was born in 1762 in St Mawgan-in-Ryder, Cornwall. Nicholas married ANN TREWEEK on 12 December 1785 at St Clement, Cornwall. Ann was born around 1754 and was the second daughter of ABRAHAM TREWEEK and MARY GEORGE. She died in 1788 in Gwennap, Cornwall.

Refer to the TREWEEK family for more information about Ann’s family.

Children of NICHOLAS MAY and ANN TREWEEK included:

ABRAHAM ³ MAY, baptized 11 January 1788.

GENERATION THREE:

3. ~ ~ ~ ABRAHAM MAY (NICHOLAS > NICHOLAS) was baptized on 11 January 1788 at St Stephen-in-Brannel, Cornwall and was the son of NICHOLAS MAY and ANN TREWEEK. Abraham was a Miner. Abraham married JANE TRELEASE on 14 December 1809 in Gwennap, Cornwall. Jane was born on christened on 26 December 1790 in Gwennap and was the second daughter of WILLIAM TRELEASE and JOAN MORCOMBE.

Refer to the TRELEASE family for more information about Jane’s family.

Children of ABRAHAM MAY and JANE TRELEASE were:

ANN MAY, christened 22 July 1810 in Gwennap, Cornwall. Ann married GEORGE ILIFF on 22 July 1810 in Gwennap. She died on 19 October 1875 in Gwennap.

JOHN TRELEASE MAY, christened 20 September 1812 in Gwennap, Cornwall.

WILLIAM MAY, christened 20 September 1814 in Gwennap, Cornwall. William married ELIZA MITCHELL on 25 March 1837.

JOANNA MAY, christened 2 June 1816 in Gwennap, Cornwall. Joanna married SAMUEL DUNSTAN on 24 March 1842. Joanna died on 20 June 1874 at "Cross Lanes", Kea, Cornwall.

JANE MAY, christened 12 September 1817 in Cusgarne, Cornwall. Jane married GEORGE ELLIOTT on 21 August 1836 in Gwennap, Cornwall.

ELIZABETH MAY, christened 13 June 1819 in Gwennap, Cornwall. Elizabeth married THOMAS DARLINGSTONE on 2 May 1839 in Gwennap.

ABRAHAM ⁴ MAY, christened 12 February 1822 in Gwennap, Cornwall.

RICHARD MAY, christened 14 July 1825 in Gwennap, Cornwall. Richard died on 22 January 1827.

HARRIET ⁵ MAY, born 30 December 1826 in Cusgarne, Cornwall.

LAVINIA ⁶ MAY, born 22 February 1829 in Cusgarne, Cornwall.

ELIZA ⁷ MAY, christened 25 June 1831 in Gwennap, Cornwall.

WILLIAM MAY, born Abt. 1833 in Cusgarne, Cornwall, England. William married EMILY MONCKTON on 14 September 1870 in Brenchley, Kent, England. Emily was christened on 10 August 1837 in Brenchley, Kent.

GENERATION FOUR:

4. ~ ~ ~ ABRAHAM MAY (NICHOLAS > NICHOLAS > ABRAHAM) was christened on 12 February 1822 in Gwennap, Cornwall, Engalnd and was the third son of ABRAHAM MAY and JANE TRELEASE. Abraham married HARRIET KENT on 5 June 1842 in Kea, Cornwall.

Children of ABRAHAM MAY and JANE TRELEASE were:

JOHN MAY, born 1852.

HARRIET JANE MAY, born 1858. Harriet immigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1883 and married CHARLES HENRY NORTHCOTT, who also came from Cornwall via South Africa. 

WILLIAM MAY, born 1863.

5. ~ ~ ~ HARRIET MAY (NICHOLAS > NICHOLAS > ABRAHAM) was born on 30 December 1826 in Cusgarne, Gwennap, England and christened on 22 January 1827. She was the fifth daughter of ABRAHAM MAY and JANE TRELEASE. Harriet married NICHOLAS PAUL on 26 April 1847 in Gwennap. Nicholas was born on 26 January 1823 in Perranarworthal, Cornwall and was the son of NICHOLAS PAUL and ANN HEATH.

Refer to the PAUL family for more information about Nicholas’s family and children of Nicholas and Harriet.

6. ~ ~ ~ LAVINIA MAY (NICHOLAS > NICHOLAS > ABRAHAM) was born on 22 February 1829 in Cusgarne, Cornwall, England and was the sixth daughter of ABRAHAM MAY and JANE TRELEASE. Lavinia married PAUL WILLIAMS on 30 November 1848 in Gwennap, Cornwall. Paul was born on 19 December 1824 in Perranarworthal, Cornwall and was the son of JOHN WILLIAMS and MARY JOBE who had married in Perranarworthal on 14 April 1822. Paul died on 9 February 1891 in Thames, New Zealand. Lavinia died on 24 February 1898 also in Thames, New Zealand.

Refer to the WILLIAMS family for more information about Paul’s family and children of Lavinia and Paul.

7. ~ ~ ~ ELIZA MAY (NICHOLAS > NICHOLAS > ABRAHAM) was christened on 25 June 1831 in Gwennap, Cornwall, England and was the seventh daughter of ABRAHAM MAY and JANE TRELEASE. Eliza married JOHN HARVEY on 25 June 1846 in Gwennap. On the 1861 Census Eliza’s occupation was recorded as a Dressmaker and she was living in Bodinland (now called Pensilva) and was a Widow.

She later married SAMUEL SYMONS (SIMMONS) and they had four children. Samuel died in a mine explosion in Cornwall in 1872 and by 1881 Eliza was living in Bolton, Lancashire, once again a Widow. By 1901 she had immigrated to the United States of America with son Arthur. Eliza died in 1903 in Michigan, USA.

Refer to the SIMMONS family for more information about the children of Eliza and Samuel.

Please note that in keeping to genealogy publishing protocol I have not included information about later generations including living persons. If you have a family connection please contact me for further information.

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