Edward Antill (March 20 1658/1659–bef. April 7, 1725) was an English-born American merchant and attorney prominent in the early history of 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 Uni ...

and the

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1783. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after the ...

during the colonial period. He was the father of colonial politician and plantation owner Edward Antill (1701–1770) and grandfather of Lt. Colonel Edward Antill (1742–1789) who served as an officer in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

notably at the

Battle of Quebec (1775) The Battle of Quebec (french: Bataille de Québec) was fought on December 31, 1775, between American Continental Army forces and the British defenders of Quebec City early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major defe ...

. Antill was born on 20 March 1658/1659 in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, County Surrey,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.Van Duesen, Mary S
Edward Antill the 1st
Retrieved April 5, 2013. Antill rose to prominence as an attorney and a merchant importing goods and slaves from the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

in the late seventeenth century. In the 1680s Antill was apparently opposed to the administration of New York and New Jersey under the

Dominion of New England The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was an administrative union of English colonies covering New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies (except for Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania). Its political structure represe ...

, and to its administrator,

Sir Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714) was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served ...

, as Antill had considerable connections with

Jacob Leisler Jacob Leisler ( – May 16, 1691) was a German-born colonist who served as a politician in the Province of New York. He gained wealth in New Amsterdam (later New York City) in the fur trade and tobacco business. In what became known as Leisler's ...

, who later overthrew the Andros government and deposed

Francis Nicholson Lieutenant-General Francis Nicholson (12 November 1655 – ) was a British Army general and colonial official who served as the Governor of South Carolina from 1721 to 1725. He previously was the Governor of Nova Scotia from 1712 to 1715, the ...

, Andros's Lieutenant Governor during

Leisler's Rebellion Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late-17th century colonial 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 Coloni ...

in 1689. Leisler appointed Antill to his provincial council, but Antill was forced to flee after facing arrest for this involvement with Leisler. The hostilities between Antill and Andros originated years earlier. Andros had previously charged and tried

Philip Carteret Rear-Admiral Philip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity (22 January 1733, Trinity Manor, Jersey – 21 July 1796, Southampton) was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navy's circumnavigation expeditions in 1764� ...

, the first governor of New Jersey in 1677 for riot—a trial in which Antill participated in some capacity. The trial was political in nature, as Carteret refused to give up his position as governor when demanded by Edmund Andros, Governor of New York. In response, Andros sent a raiding party to Carteret's home and had him beaten and arrested. He was acquitted at trial, but the attack caused permanent injuries that led to his death in 1682. Antill was close to Carteret in the colony's affairs, and later inherited a significant portion of the estate of Carteret's widow. On November 20, 1686, he purchased one quarter of a one-twenty-fourth part of the East Jersey colony from David Toshack, the Laird of Monibaird. This propriety interest formerly belonged to James, Earl of Perth. Antill was among the proprietors who signed the documents surrendering East Jersey to the Crown in preparation for Queen Anne's uniting East Jersey and

West Jersey West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often ...

into a

Crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...

in 1702. His exact date of death is not known as his will was written in 1704 but not probated until 1725. It is thought that he died when his son Edward (1701–1770) was young, due to his son's adoption by pirate

Giles Shelley Giles Shelley (born May 1645 (?), died 1710, last name occasionally Shelly) was a pirate trader active between New York and Madagascar. History Shelley commanded the 4-gun or 6-gun vessel ''Nassau'' on supply runs between New York and the pirate ...

.The Morris Family: Edward Antill 17 Jun 1701 - 15 Aug 1770
Retrieved January 26, 2013.Will of Giles Shelley, filed February 19, 1710, in ''Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate’s Office, City of New York, Volume 2, 1708-1728.'' in ''Collections of the New York Historical Society'' (Volume 26). (New York: New York Historical Society, 1894). It is thought because of his name disappears from the legal history of New Jersey and New York that Antill died in or shortly after 1704.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antill, Edward 1659 births English emigrants People of colonial New Jersey People of the Province of New York Colonial American merchants History of New York (state) American lawyers 1700s deaths People from Richmond, London