Silvanus Trevail (often misspelled as Sylvanus Trevail) was born in Luxulyan in October 1851. He rose to become Mayor of Truro and, nationally, President of the architects' professional body, the Society of Architects.

More importantly perhaps, he was certainly Cornwall's most famous architect of the 19th Century. Following his association with philanthropist John Passmore Edwards, several Libraries and Institutes were designed by him in addition to the many other public and private buildings, chapels, churches, hotels - to which he also gave his services as a fundraiser and developer.