List of speakers of the New York General Assembly

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Speaker of the New York General Assembly
Seal of the Province of New York, 1767
FormationOctober 14, 1683
First holderJames Graham
Final holderJohn Cruger
AbolishedMay 1775
SuccessionSpeaker of the New York State Assembly

The Speaker of the New York General Assembly was the highest official in the New York General Assembly, the first representative governing body in New York from 1683 to 1775 when the assembly disbanded after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.[1]

As in most countries with a British heritage, the speaker presides over the lower house of the legislature and was elected from within the ranks of the General Assembly.

New York General Assembly[edit]

The New York General Assembly was first convened on October 14, 1683, during the governorship of Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick, which passed an act entitled "A Charter of Liberties" that decreed that the supreme legislative power under the Duke of York shall reside in a governor, council, and the people convened in general assembly; conferred upon the members of the assembly rights and privileges making them a body coequal to and independent of the British Parliament; established town, county, and general courts of justice; solemnly proclaimed the right of religious liberty; and passed acts enunciating certain constitutional liberties, e.g. taxes could be levied only by the people met in general assembly; right of suffrage; and no martial law or quartering of the soldiers without the consent of the inhabitants.[2]

The General Assembly elected a Speaker from their own ranks, chose their own clerk, and published their own journal.[3]

List of speakers[edit]

The following were elected from the General Assembly to serve as Speaker of the Assembly.[a][3][4]

Speaker District Took office Left office Notes
James Graham New York County[b] April 9, 1691
October 26, 1692
September 3, 1693 		September 13, 1692
July 27, 1693
November 16, 1693 		Three terms
Henry Pierson Suffolk County March 2, 1694 April 20, 1695
James Graham New York County June 20, 1695 April 2, 1698
Philip French New York County May 19, 1698 June 14, 1698
James Graham New York County March 2, 1699 May 15, 1699[c]
Abraham Gouverneur New York County May 15, 1699
August 19, 1701 		June 1, 1701
May 3, 1702
William Nicoll Suffolk County October 20, 1702
June 7, 1705
August 18, 1708
April 5, 1709
September 1, 1710
July 2, 1711
May 27, 1713
May 3, 1715
June 5, 1716 		November 6, 1704
May 5, 1707
January 5, 1709
November 12, 1709
April 20, 1711
March 3, 1713
September 9, 1714[d]
August 11, 1715
May 27, 1718[e] 		A son of 6th New York City mayor Matthias Nicoll, and the father of the man who served as Speaker between 1759 and 1768.
Robert Livingston Jr. Livingston Manor[f] May 27, 1718 July 24, 1724 An uncle of the below-named Philip Livingston
Adolph Philipse New York County August 6, 1725[g]
September 27, 1726
September 30, 1727
July 28, 1728 		August 10, 1726
August 21, 1727[h]
November 25, 1727
May 30, 1737
Lewis Morris Jr. Westchester County[i] June 15, 1737 October 20, 1738 Father of Lewis Morris
Adolph Philipse New York County March 27, 1739
November 8, 1743 		December 27, 1743
May 14, 1745
David Jones Queens County[j] June 25, 1745
February 12, 1747
September 4, 1750
October 24, 1752 		November 25, 1747
July 20, 1750
November 25, 1751
December 17, 1758
William Nicoll Suffolk County January 31, 1759
March 10, 1761 		March 2, 1761[k]
February 6, 1768 		A son of the man who served as Speaker between 1702 and 1718
Philip Livingston New York County October 27, 1768 January 2, 1769 A nephew of the above-named Robert Livingston
John Cruger New York County April 4, 1769 April 8, 1775

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes
  1. ^ No journals or records of names of members of general assembly, between 1683 and 1691, are preserved.[3]
  2. ^ The current New York County; Manhattan.
  3. ^ Graham was replaced by Abraham Gouverneur during the 7th Assembly.
  4. ^ The 15th Assembly was dissolved upon the death of Queen Anne which occurred on August 1, 1714.
  5. ^ Nicoll resigned May 27, 1718 due to ill health.[4]
  6. ^ Livingston Manor was a 160,000 acre (650 square kilometres (250 sq mi)) tract of land granted to Robert Livingston the Elder and confirmed by royal charter of George I of Great Britain in 1715, creating the manor and lordship of Livingston.[5] The original patent was obtained in July 1686.[6]
  7. ^ Elected in place of Livingston, who was absent on August 1, 1725.
  8. ^ The 18th Assembly was dissolved upon the death of George I which occurred on June 11, 1727.
  9. ^ Now, Westchester and Bronx counties.
  10. ^ Now, Queens and Nassau counties.
  11. ^ The 18th Assembly was dissolved upon the death of George II which occurred on October 25, 1760.
Sources
  1. ^ "English Colony and Province". www.nycourts.gov. Historical Society of the New York Courts | New York Legal History. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  2. ^ Driscoll, John T. "Thomas Dongan." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 Jun. 2014
  3. ^ a b c Hough, A.M., M.D., Franklin B. (1858). The New York Civil List: Containing The Names And Origin Of The Civil Divisions, And The Names And Dates Of Election Or Appointment Of The Principal State And County Officers From The Revolution To The Present Time. Albany: Weed, Parsons and Co. Retrieved 19 September 2018.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b Murlin, Edgar L. (1908). The New York Red Book. J. B. Lyon Company. pp. 356–365. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  5. ^ Livingston, Edwin Brockholst (1901). The Livingstons of Livingston manor; being the history of that branch of the Scottish house of Callendar which settled in the English province of New York during the reign of Charles the Second; and also including an account of Robert Livingston of Albany, "The nephew," a settler in the same province and his principal descendants. New York: The Knickerbocker Press. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  6. ^ Livingston, James D.; Penney, Sherry H. (March 1987). "The Breakup of Livingston Manor" (PDF). The Hudson Valley Regional Review. 4 (1): 56–73. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
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