James De Lancey

James De Lancey (born November 27, 1703 in New York City , † July 30, 1760 ibid) was a lawyer and twice acting British colonial governor of the province of New York .

Life

James De Lancey was the son of Stephen Delancey (French. Etienne de Lancy) (1663-1741), who was an influential figure in the province of New York. James was educated in England , where he arrived to the University of Cambridge belonging Corpus Christi College studied. He then studied law at the Inner Temple in London . In 1725 he was admitted to the bar. On his return to America he married Anne Heathcote in 1729, the daughter of the former mayor of New York City Caleb Heathcote (1665-1721).

Also in 1729 was De Lancey member of the New York Assembly , the colonial Parliament of the Province of New York and in the Governing Council ( Council ) of the governor. In 1730 he was chairman of a commission that passed the so-called Montgomerie Charter , which was to remain the municipal administrative base for New York City for over a hundred years. The following year he became a judge at the Colonial Court. In this capacity he was also involved in the process between Rip Van Dam and William Cosby in 1733 . At that time, De Lancey voted in favor of Cosby by a majority of the judges. This trial was presided over by the Colony Chief Justice Lewis Morris (1671–1746), who was for Van Dam. When the verdict was reached, however, he was outvoted. Cosby won the trial. Because of his dissenting attitude, Morris was removed from office as Chief Justice by Cosby. As the successor to the dismissed judge, Cosby appointed James De Lancey, who was to hold the post of Chief Justice of the colony until his death.

In 1735 De Lancey presided over the trial of journalist John Peter Zenger . The process ended in Zener's acquittal and was a great victory for freedom of the press, but also a defeat for Colonial Governor Cosby. Judge De Lancey supported the prosecution in the proceedings, but was overruled in the judgment. In 1741 De Lancey was also involved in the trial of those involved in a slave rebellion (1741 Slave Insurrection). At the beginning of Governor George Clinton's tenure , De Lancey was one of his key advisors. In 1746, De Lancey and the governor fell apart over a campaign against Canada. From then on, the two men were determined opponents. De Lancey became the leader of the liberal opposition. His appointment as deputy governor, also in 1746, was withheld by Clinton until 1753.

After Governor Danvers Osborne's suicide , De Lancey was appointed acting governor of New York Province. He held this office between 1753 and 1755 until the arrival of the new governor Charles Hardy . When he led a military expedition against the French and Indians two years later and could not be there, De Lancey held the post of acting governor again from 1758 until his death in 1760.

Web links

• James De Lancey in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• De Lancey at the Historical Society of the New York Courts
• De Lancey at the Encyclopædia Britannica