Research Notes:

A number of secondary sources identify William Gartrell who died in Illogan in 1703/4 as the son of Jeffrey Gartrell and his wife Wilmot, born in Phillack in 1642 (Jeffery Gartrell made a bequest of 20 shillings to his son William when he wrote his will in 1666). The same secondary sources indicate that William Gartrell married Charity (family name not known) about 1674, the Phillack parish register recording the baptism of a daughter Catherine in that year, who apparently went on to marry David Eddy in 1697 in Zennor. No other children of William Gartrell and Charity have been identified. The children of William Gartrell / Garter who appear in the Illogan parish register from 1685 onward are shown in the secondary sources as children of William and Charity; however, the same children are identified in the 1727 will of Anne Gartrell of Illogan, widow, as belonging to her. William Gartrell and Ann his wife are named in the 1694 will of Thomas Carpenter of Illogan, Ann's father, at which time William's youngest three children—Cordelia, Elizabeth and Sidwell—had not yet been born, though Thomas Carpenter implies that William and Anne had already had children when he wills that, after the death of his (second) wife Elizabeth, what he had bequeathed to her will pass to William's children.

William's son, John, while born and married in Illogan, was residing in Phillack when he wrote his will in 1767. The beneficiaries of John's will include his sisters Mary Gartrell (who also resided in Phillack) and Cordelia Vivian, both of whom are named in the will of the said Anne Gartrell as her daughters. John also names his sister Elizabeth Richards (by then deceased) as the mother of four children to whom he made bequests, and Elizabeth Richards is likewise named in the will of Anne Gartrell as one of her daughters. In other words, Charity was not the mother of William's Illogan-born children.

A Charity Garter was buried in Zennor in 1740, the parish where Catherine Gartrell, daughter of William and Charity, was married. Catherine was living in 1734 when she became a beneficiary of the will of her husband David Edye of Zennor. If this was Catherine's mother Charity who died in 1740 in Zennor, then she would have been quite advanced in years (at the very least 85 years old when she died). If not, then it would have been simply a matter of William having married twice, first to Charity and then to Anne Carpenter. It does seem likely, however, that Charity Garter who died in 1740 was presumably the widow of William Gartrell, such that William Gartrell who married Anne Carpenter was a different individual. Where and when Charity's husband William Gartrell died is unknown. It was William Gartrell who married Anne Carpenter that was buried in Illogan.

William Gartrell son of Jeffrey Gartrell, born in 1642, would have been in his late 20s or early 30s when he married Charity; the same William would have been in his early-to-mid 40s when he married Anne Carpenter. While it is not unusual for a man to marry later, earlier marriages are more common. Probabilities aside, there is insufficient information to determine which William was the son of Jeffery and Wilmot.

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In 1691 William Gartrell was a witness to the will of Gilbert Jacka of Illogan, tinner, and with Andrew Trounsen took inventory of Gilbert Jacka's goods and chattels. Gilbert Jacka names in his will his brother-in-law, Thomas Carpenter, who was William Gartrell's father-in-law.

In 1693 William Gartrell was a witness to the will of William Robins of Illogan, tinner, and with Andrew Trounsen took inventory of William Robin's goods and chattels.

In May 1696 William Gartrell with Andrew Trounsen took inventory of the goods and chattels of Richard Cleather of Illogan, yeoman, deceased.

In 1696 William Gartrell was a witness to the will of Thomas Fox of Illogan, yeoman, and in August of that year assisted in making an inventory of Thomas Fox's goods and chattels. ²

In May 1699 William Gartrell and John Tresedren took inventory of the goods and chattels of Francis Carpenter of Illogan, deceased.

In December 1700 William Gartrell witnessed the will of Gilbert Coode of Illogan, Gent. In July 1701 William together with Emanuel Fox took inventory of Gilbert Coode's goods and chattels.