The senior line of the Trefusis family died out in the male line in 1957 on the death of
Charles John Robert Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton (1863–1957), who left two daughters and co-heiresses to the barony, which went into abeyance, but being an ancient one created by writ, is able to descend via female lines.
The abeyancy was terminated in 1965 when the title Baron Clinton was claimed by
Gerard Nevile Mark Fane-Trefusis (1934–2024), a descendant in a junior line of
Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland (1701–1771), and the grandson of the 21st Baron's eldest daughter, who in 1958 had assumed by deed poll the additional surname of Trefusis, and thus became the 22nd Baron Clinton.
As he inherited the vast Devonshire estates (mostly formerly belonging to the Rolle family) of the 21st Baron, who "held sway over the largest estate Devon had ever seen",[5] (now managed by his
Clinton Devon Estates company), the Cornwall estates including Trefusis descended to Major Hon. Henry Walter Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis of the Scots Guards, the second son of
Charles Henry Rolle Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 20th Baron Clinton (1834–1904), and in 2015 the occupant of the manor house of Trefusis is the Major's grandson Nicholas John Trefusis (born 1943), Lieutenant-Commander
Royal Navy, a
Justice of the Peace for Cornwall and a
Deputy Lieutenant for that county.[6]
Armorials
The arms of the Trefusis family are: Argent, a chevron between three spindles sable; the crest is: A griffin segreant or resting his dexter foot on a shield argent.[7]
Lady
Mary Trefusis, née Lygon (1869–1927), hymn writer, the Court link in the establishment of the
English Folk Dance Society, of which she was first Secretary; Lady in Waiting to Queen Mary
Nicholas Trefusis (died c. 1648), English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England
Robert Trefusis (1843–1930), inaugural Suffragan Bishop of Crediton from 1897 to 1930
Violet Trefusis, née Keppel (1894–1972), English writer and socialite
^Blazons per Debrett's Peerage, 2015, p. 258, Baron Clinton (Fane-Trefusis), some minor differences in depiction
^Vivian, J.L., The Visitations of Cornwall: comprising the
Heralds' Visitations of 1530, 1573 & 1620; with additions by J.L. Vivian, Exeter, 1887, pedigree of "Trefusis of Trefusis", pp.463-8
[1]Archived 4 March 2016 at the
Wayback Machine; The first of the family to whom a date is assigned by Vivian, 1887, p.463 is "William Trefuses" who was living in 1291 (
regnal date 22 Edward I), who was descended in the fourth generation from "Aceus de Trefuses", who is likely therefore to have been living in the 12th century
^Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the
Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.655, pedigree of Rolle
^Pascoe, W. H. (1979) A Cornish Armory. Padstow: Lodenek Press; p. 104
^Pevsner, N. (1969) Cornwall; 2nd ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin; p. 125
^"In the chancel aisle kneels a young man born when Charles Stuart was about to die [1649]; he is Francis Trefusis, carved in stone."--Arthur Mee in his Cornwall; England's farthest south, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1937.