The de Lancey family was a distinguished colonial American and British political and military family.

History

Of French origin, the de Lancey family was a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, tit ...

of the House of Lancy, recognized in 1697 as part of the '' noblesse d'ancienne extraction'' (nobility of old extraction), as its noble status had been proven since the 15th century. The earliest known head of the house, Guy de Lancy, was the first viscount of Laval and of Nouvion, and held those fiefs in 1432. His great-great-grandson, Charles II, the fifth viscount, had three sons, including his second son, Jacques, who converted to Protestantism. The grandson of Jacques de Lancy, Étienne, fled to London following the

revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...

in 1685, where he obtained denization on March 11, 1686, after taking an oath of allegiance to James II and becoming a British subject. He then sailed for New York, arriving on June 7, 1686, and obtaining denization on July 7. Anglicizing his name to "Stephen de Lancey," he married into the influential Van Cortlandt family and became a prominent merchant and member of the provincial assembly. His eldest surviving son,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

(1703–1760), became successively Chief Justice of New York and Lieutenant-Governor of the province. The De Lanceys remained one of the most prominent and politically influential families in the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

until the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, when they sided with the

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

and raised units of Loyalist troops. Consequently, following the end of the conflict in 1783, their estates were confiscated and the family exiled to Britain and Canada. The branch of the family descended from Oliver de Lancey (1718–1785), youngest son of Stephen Delancey, emigrated to Britain, several of its members becoming distinguished officers in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. While most of the family permanently left the United States following the Revolution, John Peter (1753–1828), the son of James De Lancey, resigned his commission in the British Army and returned to New York in 1789, having missed his homeland. His son, William H. DeLancey (1797–1865), served as the Provost (chief administrator) of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and subsequently became the first Episcopal bishop of the

Diocese of Western New York The Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over the counties of Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming in western New York. ...

Family tree

The following genealogical tree illustrates the links among the more notable family members: * Stephen De Lancey (1663–1741), m. 1700: Anne Van Cortlandt (1676–1742) **

(1703–1760), m. 1729: Anne Heathcote (1703–1778) *** James Jr. (1732–1800), m. 1771: Margaret Allen ****Charles Stephen (d. 1840) ****James III (d. 1857) ***Stephen II (d. 1795) ***John Peter (1753–1828), m. 1785: Elizabeth Floyd (1759–1819) ****Thomas James (1789–1822), m. Mary Ellison (1798–1842) *****Thomas James II (1817–1859) ****Susan Augusta (1792–1852), m. 1811: James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) ****Edward Floyd (1795–1820) **** William Heathcote (1797–1865), m. 1820: Frances Munro (1797–1869) ***** Edward Floyd (1821–1905), m. 1848: Josephine Matilda De Zeng (1823–1865) ******Edward Etienne (1859–1927), m. 1890: Lucia Cleveland Grannis (1872–1939) *******Edwin Floyd (1893–1982) *******William Heathcote III (1897–1961) *****William Heathcote II (1837–1924) **Peter (1705–1770), m. 1737: Elizabeth Alice Colden (1721–1785) ***

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

(1738–1809) ***John (1741–1830) ***Peter (d. 1771) ***

(1746–1804), m. 1784: Martha Tippett (1760–1837) ****William (1783–1869) ****Peter (1802–1882) ***Oliver (1750–1820) ***Warren (1761–1846) **Susannah (1707–1771), m. 1731: Vice-Admiral Peter Warren (1703–1752) ** Oliver (1718–1785), m. 1742: Phila Franks (1722–1811) ***

(1748–1798), m. Cornelia Barclay **** William Howe (1778–1815), m. 1815: Magdalene Hall (1793–1822) *** Oliver (1749–1822) **** Oliver III (1803–1837) **Anne (1723–1775), m. 1742: John Watts

References

{{reflist De Lancey family American families of Huguenot ancestry French noble families Families from New York (state) Political families of the United States Business families of the United States