The Conant family is a distinguished family of English origin.
History
The Conant surname is thought to be of Celtic, possibly
Breton origin.
The earliest known member of the most prominent line of the family was John Conant, a
yeoman
Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...
of
East Budleigh
East Budleigh is a small village in East Devon, England. The villages of Yettington, Colaton Raleigh, and Otterton lie to the west, north and east of East Budleigh, with the seaside town of Budleigh Salterton about two miles south. Until ...
,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. His son Richard (1548–1630), had eight children including his second son Robert (c. 1583–1638) and his youngest child
Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ...
(c. 1592–1679).
Robert Conant's eldest son the Rev.
John Conant
Rev. John Conant D.D. (18 October 1608 – 12 March 1694) was an English clergyman, theologian, and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.
Life
Conant was born at Yettington, Bicton, in the southeast of Devon, England, the eldest son of Rober ...
(1608–1694) was a noted theologian who was
Regius Professor of Divinity and
Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford is the chief executive and leader of the University of Oxford. The following people have been vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford (formally known as The Right Worshipful the Vice-Chancel ...
.
John Conant's great-grandson Nathaniel (1745–1822) served as Chief Magistrate of the
Bow Street Magistrates' Court
Bow Street Magistrates' Court became one of the most famous magistrates' court in England. Over its 266-year existence it occupied various buildings on Bow Street in Central London, immediately north-east of Covent Garden. It closed in 2006 and ...
and was
knighted in 1813.
Nathaniel's great-great-grandson
Sir Roger Conant, 1st Baronet
Sir Roger John Edward Conant, 1st Baronet, CVO, DL (28 May 1899 – 30 March 1973) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for more than 25 years between 1931 and 1959.
Born in Kensington ...
(1899–1973) was a
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
(MP) who served as
Comptroller of the Household
The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of t ...
from 1951 to 1954 and was created a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
in 1954.
Roger Conant, the youngest child of Richard, emigrated to the
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...
in 1624, establishing the North American line of the Conant family.
Disliking the increasingly repressive government at Plymouth, he soon left and was appointed the first governor of an English settlement on
Cape Ann
Cape Ann is a rocky peninsula in northeastern Massachusetts, United States on the Atlantic Ocean. It is about northeast of Boston and marks the northern limit of Massachusetts Bay. Cape Ann includes the city of Gloucester and the towns o ...
, subsequently founding the town of
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
. There are numerous notable descendants of Roger.
The following genealogical tree illustrates the links among the more notable family members:
Family tree
*Richard Conant (1548–1630)
**Robert Conant (c. 1583–1638)
***
Rev. John Conant (1608–1694)
****Robert Conant (1670–1756)
*****Rev. John Conant (1706–1779)
******Sir Nathaniel Conant (1745–1822)
*******John Edward Conant (1777–1848)
********Edward Nathaniel Conant (1820–1901)
*********Ernest William Proby Conant (1852–1920)
**********
Sir Roger Conant, 1st Baronet
Sir Roger John Edward Conant, 1st Baronet, CVO, DL (28 May 1899 – 30 March 1973) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for more than 25 years between 1931 and 1959.
Born in Kensington ...
(1899–1973)
***********
Sir John Conant, 2nd Baronet (b. 1923)
**
Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ...
(c. 1592–1679)
***Lot Conant (1624–1674)
****Nathaniel Conant (1650–1732)
*****Nathaniel Conant (1679–1745)
******Jeremiah Conant (1720–c. 1755)
*******Roger Conant (1748–1821)
********Thomas Conant (1782–1838)
*********Daniel Conant (1818–1879)
**********Thomas Conant (1842–1905)
***********
Gordon Daniel Conant
Gordon Daniel Conant (January 11, 1885 – January 2, 1953) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and the 12th premier of Ontario, from 1942 to 1943.
Personal life
Born in Cedar Dale, East Whitby Township (now part of the City of Oshawa) in On ...
(1885–1953)
******John Conant (1725–c. 1816)
*******Jeremiah Conant (1758–1828)
********Thomas Conant (1807–1892)
*********James Scott Conant (1844–1922)
**********
James Bryant Conant
James Bryant Conant (March 26, 1893 – February 11, 1978) was an American chemist, a transformative President of Harvard University, and the first U.S. Ambassador to West Germany. Conant obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard in 1916 ...
(1893–1978)
***********Theodore Richards Conant (1926–2015)
************
James F. Conant (b. 1958)
************
Jennet Conant
Jennet Conant (born July 15, 1959) is an American non-fiction author and journalist. She has written five books about World War II, three of which have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list: ''Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the S ...
(b. 1959)
****John Conant (1652–1724)
*****Lot Conant (1679–1767)
******Andrew Conant (b. 1703)
*******Andrew Conant (1725–1805)
********Zebulon Conant (b. 1749)
*********Andrew Conant (1796–1877)
**********Lovander Wright Conant (1821–1898)
***********Alonzo H. Conant (1849–1919)
************Frank Hall Conant (1880–1941)
*************
Norman Francis Conant
Norman Francis Conant (9 March 1908, Walpole, Massachusetts – 23 April 1984, Durham, North Carolina) was an American medical school professor and one of the pioneers of medical mycology.
Education
Conant graduated in 1930 with a Bachelor of Sci ...
(1908–1984)
******William Conant (1707–1756)
*******William Conant (1732–1804)
********Levi Conant (1767–1842)
*********Levi Conant (1810–1892)
**********
Sherman Conant
Sherman Conant (December 21, 1839 – November 21, 1890) was an American soldier and politician who served as the 9th Florida Attorney General during Reconstruction.
Early life and military service
Conant was born on December 21, 1839 in Du ...
(1839–1890)
**********
Levi L. Conant
Levi Leonard Conant (March 3, 1857, Littleton, Massachusetts – October 11, 1916, Worcester, Massachusetts) was an American mathematician specializing in trigonometry.
Education and career
He attended Phillips Academy, Andover and Dartmouth C ...
(1857–1916)
****William Conant (1667–c. 1754)
*****David Conant (1698–1789)
******Jonathan Conant (1734–1820)
*******Josiah Conant (1768–1801)
********Jonathan Conant (1793–1863)
*********Jonathan Josiah Conant (1823–1908)
**********Samuel Dimick Conant (1851–1936)
***********William Chester Conant (1884–1973)
************David Perry Conant (1913–2005)
*************
David Stoughton Conant
David Stoughton Conant (June 17, 1949, Springfield, Vermont – June 27, 2018) was an American botanist, specializing in the systematics and genetics of tropical tree ferns.
Biography
After graduating from Fall Mountain Regional High School, Cona ...
(1949–2018)
****Roger Conant (1668–1745)
*****Ebenezer Conant (1698–1794)
******Ebenezer Conant (1743–1783)
*******John Conant (1773–1856)
********
Thomas Jefferson Conant
Thomas Jefferson Conant (December 13, 1802 – April 30, 1891) was an American Biblical scholar.
Biography
Thomas Jefferson Conant was born in Brandon, Vermont on December 13, 1802. Graduating from Middlebury College in 1823, he became tutor i ...
(1802–1891) m.
Hannah O'Brien Chaplin (1809–1865)
*********
S. S. Conant (1831–?) m.
Helen S. Conant (1839–1899)
*******Calvin Conant (1779–1829)
********Charles Rich Conant (1807–1863)
*********
Carlos Conant Maldonado (1842–1907)
See also
*
Conant baronets
*
Conant
References
{{reflist
Conant family
Scientific families
American families of English ancestry
Families from Massachusetts
English families
English gentry families