Major General Charles Trelawny, also spelt 'Trelawney', (1653 – 24 September 1731) was an English soldier from Cornwall who played a prominent part in the 1688 Glorious Revolution, and was a Member of Parliament for various seats between 1685 and 1713.

Along with John Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough, Trelawny organised support within the army for the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, when James was replaced by his Protestant daughter Mary, and Dutch son-in-law William of Orange.

[1] When she died in childbirth in 1690, Trelawny inherited her estates near Hengar, Cornwall; in June 1699, he married again, this time to Elizabeth Mitchell, whose father Thomas was Rector of Notgrove, Gloucestershire.

At the 1685 election, he was returned as MP for East Looe, a constituency controlled by his family; in November, James suspended Parliament for refusing to pass his measures of tolerance.

[9] Over the next two years, James' attempts to ensure a Parliament that would vote as instructed eroded the traditional power base of the landed aristocracy, both Tory and Whig.

The Association of Protestant Officers was formed to resist what they considered an erosion of their rights and privileges, its members including Trelawny, Marlborough and Kirke.

Written by Henry Sydney, it was signed by seven individuals selected from key elements of the political nation, including Tories, Whigs, the Church of England and the Royal Navy.

[13] Sydney's brother-in-law was the Earl of Sunderland, James' chief advisor; alarmed by the regime's unpopularity and growing unrest, he secretly supported negotiations with William.

[15] This meant that unlike 1685, James could not rely on the West Country, enabling William to land unopposed at the southwestern port of Torbay on 5 November 1688, the so-called Glorious Revolution.

In January 1692, he resigned as colonel in favour of his brother Henry; various reasons have been suggested, including his friendship with Marlborough, who was dismissed from his military and political offices at the same time.

[17] In 1702, Trelawny was given the largely ceremonial title Vice-Admiral of South Cornwall and in 1706 his elder brother became Bishop of Winchester, one of the wealthiest and most important bishoprics in the Church of England.

[19] Described by Defoe as ‘a town of consideration and of great importance to the public’, Plymouth was also a significant military base and his retention of the post under the fiercely anti-Tory George I was testimony to his reliability.