Ross Williams MBE Awarded Prestigious Trelawny Plate
Ross Williams MBE has been awarded the Trelawny Plate in recognition of his outstanding contribution to arts and culture in Cornwall.
The Trelawny Plate Award is made to the person judged by a senior and representative panel "to have contributed most to the spirit of Cornwall".
The plate itself originally belonged to Bishop Jonathan Trelawny, who was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1688. The more than 300-year-old pewter dinner plate was donated by the Bishop's descendant, Sir John Trelawny, and is kept at the Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery in Truro. Recipients receive a replica plate, created by the St Justin Tin company in Penzance.
The award was presented to Ross by Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho KCVO OBE, Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall, His Majesty The King's representative in the county, during a special Service of Thanksgiving and Commemoration at St Nun's Church, Pelynt, on Tuesday 14 July 2026.
Ross has worked in the arts for nearly 50 years and has been a central figure in Cornwall's arts and culture for the last 35 years. His vision, gift for strategic development and sure-handed management have underpinned much of the development of the arts in Cornwall during that time. He has mentored a new generation of arts professionals and brought a range of organisations and projects into being under the banner of Creative Kernow, which now provide the backbone of Cornwall's cultural life.
From a prominent Redruth family, Ross has since turned his attention to his hometown and is one of the leading figures behind Redruth Revival CIC and the Buttermarket project. As Chair of Redruth Revival, he has helped lead the heritage-led regeneration of Redruth, including the transformation of the Buttermarket into Cornwall's first food hall and a growing cultural hub, supporting independent businesses, culture and community in the heart of the town.
Last year, Ross was also appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in The King's Birthday Honours 2025 for services to heritage and culture in Cornwall.
After the announcement, Ross said:
"This is a wholly unexpected award, and I feel very honoured to receive it. My work in the creative and cultural sectors in Cornwall has always been about being part of a team, and I'm very grateful to all those people who have helped with that over the past 35 years."
As part of the celebration, the Pelynt Male Choir, known as Trelawny's Men, led the congregation in Robert Stephen Hawker's The Song of the Western Men, more commonly known simply as Trelawny.
Jonathan Trelawny was born in the parish of Pelynt in 1650 and ordained in 1673. He was one of seven bishops charged with high treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London for refusing to implement King James II's Declaration of Indulgence, which granted religious tolerance to Catholics. Bishop Trelawny was held for three weeks before being tried and acquitted. He died in 1721 and is interred in the family vault at St Nun's Church, Pelynt.
Everyone at Redruth Revival extends their warmest congratulations to Ross on this exceptional and richly deserved honour, recognising a lifetime dedicated to Cornwall's arts, heritage and communities.
