Stephen De Lancey (December 1738 – May 1809) was a lawyer and political figure in New York state and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. He represented Annapolis Township in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

from 1784 to 1789.

Early life

He was born in West Farms, New York, the eldest son of Peter DeLancey (1705–1770) and Elizabeth ( née Colden) DeLancey. His sister, Susan DeLancey (1754–1837), was married to

Thomas Henry Barclay Thomas Henry Barclay (October 12, 1753 – April 21, 1830) was an American lawyer who became one of the United Empire Loyalists in Nova Scotia and served in the colony's government. Early life Thomas Henry Barclay came from a prominent New York f ...

(1753–1830), a lawyer who became one of the

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America dur ...

and served in the colony's government. His paternal grandparents were Etienne de Lancey and Anne van Cortlandt (1676–1724), herself the third child of Gertrude Schuyler (born 1654) and

Stephanus van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor' ...

(1643–1700), the Chief Justice 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 U ...

. Both his uncle,

James DeLancey James De Lancey (November 27, 1703 – July 30, 1760) served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life and education De Lancey was born in New York City on November 27, 170 ...

(1703–1760), and maternal grandfather,

Cadwallader Colden Cadwallader Colden (7 February 1688 – 28 September 1776) was a physician, natural scientist, a lieutenant governor and acting Governor for the Province of New York. Early life Colden was born on 7 February 1688 in Ireland, of Scottish pare ...

(1688–1776), served as Colonial Governors of New York.

Career

He studied law and later moved to Albany. From 1765 to 1766, he served as clerk for the city and county of Albany. In 1770, he was named a masters in the provincial chancery court. He was elected to the Albany

committee of correspondence The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...

in 1775.

Nova Scotia

In 1776, because of his loyalist sympathies, he was stripped of his posts and deported to Hartford, Connecticut. In 1783, he moved to Nova Scotia with his family. He was first elected to the provincial assembly in a by-election held in 1783, taking the seat on Nov. 16, 1784, and was elected again in 1785. There is a website claiming that in 1786, he was named to the province's Council, however he does not appear in a list of their members. A more reliable source reports that he was appointed to office in the Bahamas, and his seat was declared vacant April 6, 1789. His brother

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 ...

won a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to replace him in the provincial assembly, and he took the seat on Feb. 26, 1790. James was indeed named a member of the Council on June 6, 1794, and this may be the source of confusion.

Personal life

De Lancey was married to Esther Rynderts of Albany. Together, they were the parents of three children: * Elizabeth De Lancey * Mary De Lancey * Cadwallader De Lancey De Lancey died in Annapolis at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Lancey, Stephen 1738 births 1809 deaths Canadian people of Dutch descent Schuyler family Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs People of the Province of New York People from the Bronx Loyalists in the American Revolution from New York (state) Loyalists who settled Nova Scotia De Lancey family