Thomas Treffry

Thomas Treffry (died 1564), of Place at Fowey, was an English businessman, administrator and politician from Cornwall. Origins Born about 1490, he was the first son of Thomas Treffrey (died before 1510), of Place, and his wife Janet, daughter and heiress of William Dawe, who lived at Plymouth. The Treffry family had landholdings but their predominant interest was in businesses centred on the port of Fowey, of which they were the leading citizens. Career By 1524 he had been appointed a tax collector for Cornwall and in 1529 was selected as the senior of the two MPs for the borough of Bodmin. He probably sat for Bodmin again in June 1536 and may well have represented the town in 1539 and 1542, the records however being lost. His arrival on the national scene led to a court appointment as a Gentleman Usher of the Chamber by 1533. In that year he was made a justice of the peace for Cornwall and Collector of Customs for Plymouth and Fowey, giving up the latter post in 1541.