Silvanus Trevail (1851 – 1903) was an English architect of the 19th century. He was born in Luxulyan, Cornwall in October 1851. He rose to become Mayor of Truro and, nationally, President of the architects' professional body, the Society of Architects. He was Cornwall's most famous architect, certainly of the 19th Century. Following the Education Act of 1870 which created Board Schools, Trevail designed around fifty such schools throughout the county. He was said to be a man ahead of his time, a campaigner for sanitation improvements and an entrepreneur. His success however, did not bring him happiness. Trevail had a history of depression and had been unwell for some time. In November 1903 he shot himself in the lavatory of a train as it entered Bodmin Road railway station.
External links
- The Silvanus Trevail Society
- BBC Inside Out, on Silvanus Trevail and the Newquay riots
- Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Silvanus Trevail
Their are biographical references to Silvanus Trevail on the Library & Museum of Freemasonry website, www.freemasonry.london.museum under classmark BE68(Tre)Roy, which contains reference to a copy of the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall for 2001
