Colonel Edward Archer (1816–1885) of Trelaske was the eldest son of Lt-Col. Edward Archer (1792–1834) and his wife Charlotte Catherine, daughter of Charles Harward of Hayne House, Devon. He was born on 8 November 1816 and educated at Oriel College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1834. On his father’s death in 1834 he inherited the Trelaske estate, which he held for the rest of his life.
Archer held local offices as Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Cornwall. He was Colonel of the Duke of Cornwall’s Rifle Volunteers, reflecting his continued connection with the county’s military tradition. In addition to his county responsibilities he served as Chairman of the South Devon Railway, linking him with the development of regional transport infrastructure. He was known as a keen huntsman and maintained his own pack of hounds.
On 24 July 1838, at Plympton St Mary, Devon, Archer married Sarah Lydia Radcliffe (c.1814–1890), daughter of the Rev. Walter Radcliffe of Warleigh, Devon. The couple had eight children. Their first child, Emma Augusta Archer (baptised 3 April 1842), died in infancy and was buried on 4 March 1843. A second daughter, Alice Archer (baptised 20 December 1843), died young on 14 November 1855 and was buried on 20 November. A son, Edward Radcliffe Archer, born 11 March and baptised 8 April 1845, died on 28 March 1848.
The surviving son Charles Gordon Archer (1846–1908) continued the family line. A daughter, Emily Augusta Archer (baptised 25 December 1848), married first, on 9 January 1873, George Badeley Marke (1849–1875) of Wood Hill, and second, on 14 February 1877 at Stoke Damerel, Devon, Lt. Richard William Okes-Voysey RN (1849–1882). She later lived at Dinant, Belgium, and died on 2 October 1903; administration of her estate, valued at £3,003, was granted on 29 October 1904.
Another son, Addis Edward Archer (1851–1921), also survived to adulthood. A daughter, Sarah Constance Archer (born 9 April and baptised 17 May 1853), remained unmarried and died on 25 March 1927; her will was proved on 31 May 1927 with an estate of £5,150. The youngest daughter, Dora Kate Archer (born 27 August and baptised 26 September 1855), married on 2 January 1896 the Rev. Frederick Granville May (1857–1930) and had two sons. She died on 17 May 1949 aged 93; her will was proved on 27 September 1949 with an estate of £545.
Colonel Edward Archer died on 16 June 1885 and was buried at Lewannick on 20 June 1885. His will was proved on 30 September 1885, with effects valued at £13,710. His widow Sarah Lydia died on 21 July 1890 and was buried on 25 July 1890; her will was proved on 12 August 1890, with effects valued at £2,154.
