DeLancy's and DeLaundon's

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: DeLaunden Laundon Delancey

The DeLancey and DeLaundon Family Mystery

A page to document the family story together with any facts I have found along the way.

My grandfather Edward Roberts was said to have often referred to his French heritage. When speaking about the family names of Delancey and Delaundon, they were always referred to together, as if a pair. Given this, we had always believed that the two names came together somewhere back in his lineage.

The main two names referred to by my mother and her sister Mary were Ann Laundon and Mary Lancey, also suggested they could be possibly be De Laundon and De Lancey.

DeLaundon

Edwards paternal grandmother's name was Ann Laundon, but on his fathers death certificate it was stated that his mothers name was Ann De Laundon. The informant of the death certificate being his fathers second wife Julia Roberts, whom his father had been married to for 26 years. His father was also named Edward, known to be quite charming and told many stories. Was this just one of the more fanciful ones that he passed on to his children, or not?

All the English records for the Laundon family give variations, Launden, Launder etc. The earliest identified ancestor on this line, being John Launder who married Alice Walker and can be found living in Humberstone, Leicestershire, England in 1737 after his first son was born. Could his origins have been French? Was he a French Huguenot? It is about the right time period, later descendants are also Framework Knitters, an occupation known to be prevalent with French immigrants. A known French Huguenot name is believed to be Delandre. Could the Delaundon name be a derivation of this?

There is a reference to a person by the name of 'Thomas De la Laund' in a Berkeley pedigree, documented as part of the Visitation of Leicester in abt 1619.^[1]

DeLancey

After extensive research I have been unable to find the Delancey name or a derivation of it in either the ROBERTS or COURTNEY lineages. The Courtney/Courtenay line remains unclear, my grandfather stating in his memoirs that his mother had some Irish in her make up which we presume is meant to refer to her paternal line which is yet another mystery. Her fathers origins are still yet to be confirmed, his name believed to be either George William or Arthur George Courtney/Courtenay.

One of the stories my mother passed on about the Delancey's was that one of them eloped with a girl who was to be forced into an arranged marriage and went to America. He was said to have been a Royalist and fought on their side in the War of Independence.

Another common tale was about 'Delancey Street in New York', it is referred to in the Rodgers and Hart song Manhattan. It was often said when they sang the lines There's nothing fancy, on old Delancey Street, you know... that the street was named after one of our relations!

These descriptions do align with what is known of Etianne Delancey b1663, who emigrated from Caen, France and later became the Mayor of New York and had the famous street named after him. Could the story be true??

The St Helena Connection

In his memoirs (written in the 1960's) my grandfather talks about his trip to Australia from England in 1910. On the voyage to Australia he says it was not possible, of course, but I asked my father on the Australian bound ship if the captain could put in for a day or so at St Helena so that we could see the tomb of ??? (Various things are crossed out, my maternal grandmothers, my great aunt, an aunt of my father).

Who is the person buried on St Helena, what relationship does she have with the family? Clearly it is a female, but based on his comments it is not clear whether the relationship is from his paternal or maternal side.

Maternal grandmother - This would be his mothers mother, Abigail Paice COURTNEY, but she died in England in 1933 and she was still alive when they made the voyage in 1910. Perhaps he means her mother, or perhaps more likely his mothers grandmother, maiden name unknown, the wife of a Courtney/Courtenay. Clearly, by time he wrote his memoirs in the 1960's he was unsure of the relationship.

My great aunt - This could mean a sister of either Edward Roberts b1841, Ann Laundon b1838, George Courtney b1841 or Abigail Paice b1845. If my research is correct there are two possibilities for Edwards sisters, Ann b1836 or Mary b1847, neither of whom we know much about.^[2] As far as Ann LAUNDON goes, she is believed to have had two sisters. Sarah, died in Leicestershire in 1917 as Sarah LEE. Her other sister Mary Anne married a SMITH, but her place of death is unknown, so she could be a possibility. On the COURTNEY side, George/Arthur/William's origins are unclear so this is definitely another possibility, which seems to be more likely. Abigail PAICE seems to have longstanding origins in Hampshire England, she does however have numerous sisters and stepsisters. Possibilities for the Paice sisters include Mary Ann Rosamund, Martha Marsh, and finally Jane,

An aunt of my father - This is really the same as the previous description, perhaps narrowing it down to his paternal side, i.e. ROBERTS or LAUNDON, which seems more likely given the French connections. It seems the connection is most likely one of the sisters of his grandmother Ann LAUNDON Roberts b 1838. As far as the ROBERTS side goes, due to the lack of DNA matches that side may possibly be different to the current researched genealogy.

There is one other possible French connection based on a family story. It was suggested that someone was a 'courtelaine' possibly in Belgium. We had thought this was Edith half sister of his mother, but that was only supposition by my mother and her sister Mary.

An interesting connection to St Helena has been found when researching the family of Etianne Delancey b1663. It seems his great grand daughter Susannah Delancey LOWE b1780 lived for some time on Saint Helena, her second husband being Hudson LOWE the infamous gaoler of Napoleon Bonaparte, however she died in London in abt 1832. Given the approximate age of a great aunt it is likely to have been after that time, perhaps it could have been a descendant of Susanna? We have a number of possible DNA connections with people with JOHNSON ancestry (her first husbands name), so perhaps this is a possibility.

There was also a branch of Delaney's on Guernsey James Delancey and his wife Margaret Allen. In addition, some of his children from his earlier union with Mary (Livingstone?) went to Canada.

Spain

More recently my Uncle John said that his recollection of the Delaundon/Delancey story was that the family had spent some time in Spain on their way to America. (2016/17)

If you have any information that might help to solve this mystery, please contact Veronica Williams.

UPDATES re Delancey's

• A descendant of Frederick DeLancy believed to have been born in Scotland, contacted me by private message on 6 Oct 2015 and advised I haven't heard the story about Delancy St. in New York for about 50 years of so. My mother told me that her uncle Willie Thomson spent some money trying to prove that Delancy St. was called after my Delancy family. But I think he ran out of money before it could be proved. Frederick was the husband Elizabeth McKechnie and the father of my great grandmother Catherine Delancy, who married a John Thomson.'
• I was also told about a historic property in Victoria, Australia named 'Mont deLancy' may have been connected in some way. It took several years to get there but it appears there is no connection to the family. It was apparently named after a lane in Guernsey where the owner Henry Sebire lived. See his profile for more information.

UPDATES re St Helena

• In my search for my elusive great grandfather Arthur George Courtenay, I discovered that he may have some Romany connections. Even though I don't yet know anything about who that ancestor might be I've update my research blog and you can read my post Could George be a Romany?

• In Romany Routes Magazine recently Robert Dawson wrote an article on Romany names and their derivations. He has indicated that names such as Santalina found in the Buckland , Evans and Owens families and the name Bosehena linked to the Baker, Boswell, Clayton, Holland, May and Smith families had their origins in St Helena. St Helena is where Napoleon was exiled in 1815 and there are several other old names related to him. The Bosepherus was the ship that took Napoleon to St Helena.^[3]

Possible connections

• By researching the St Helena connections of the deLANCY family, it is possible that perhaps William JOHNSON may be a likely candidate for a connection. More analysis is required. William is the grandfather of Susanna Delancey's husband. This was early research and may not be accurate.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Visitation of Leicester, Vol 2, p2. Repository: Society of Australian Genealogists, 2016.
2. ↑ 2023 - These two may now NOT be in contention if my theory that Edwards father was Edmund DYE is correct.
3. ↑ Romany Routes, Volume 16, No1, p22. What's in a forname? A lot! Part 1, by Robert Dawson. December 2022.