Trench's Island

Alexander Trench and his wife Hester arrived in Carolina from Dublin, Ireland circa 1720, settling in Beaufort, for Trench was agent for John Bayley, son and heir of Landgrave John Bayley.  By June 1729 when he sold Captain John Gascoigne a 500 acre plantation, he described it as “in St. Helena Parish, Granville County, part of an island commonly known by the name of Trench’s Island”. Captain Gascoigne’s own 1750 map, based on his 1729 survey of the area, labeled Hilton Head “Trench’s Island” and French maps dutifully translated it “Isle de Tranchees”. Trench’s wife Hester died before 1729 when he made his will leaving his estate to their son Frederick, with his own brother, Counselor Frederick Trench of Dublin, as Administrator.

  • Peeples, An Index to Hilton Head Island Names (Before the Contemporary Development), p. 41