L'Estrange, Sir Nicholas, ( d. 1655 )

Collector of Anecdotes

Was eldest son of Sir Hamon L'Estrange ( 1583-1654 ), and was brother of Hamon L'Estrange and of Sir Roger L'Estrange. He was created a baronet 1 June 1629. His father, according to a memorandum in his handwriting in the muniment room at Hunstanton, purchased the honour for him for 300/.., besides paying in charges 100/. He seems to have shared the royalist sentiments of his family, and dying at Hunstanton, Norfolk on 24 July 1655, was buried there.

L'Estrange compiled a curious collection of anecdotes, which he entitled "Merry Passages and Jests." The manusscript is now in the British Museum (Harl. MS. 6395 ), and although L'Estrange does not avow himself the author, his identity is established by his mention by name of very many members of his own or his wife's families as the persons from whom he derived his anecdotes. Stories moreover which are given on the authority of the writer's own knowledge are invariably marked with the initials S.N.L., i.e S(ir) N(icholas L(estrange). The anecdotes deal with domestic, historical, and biographical topics, but the majority are remarkable for their coarseness. They number more than six hundred in all; 141 of the more decent of them were printed by the Camden Society in 1839, under the editorship of W.J. Thomas, in the volume entitled "Anecdotes and Traditions".

L'Estrange's portrait is at Hunstanton Hall. He married in 1630 Anne, daughter of Sir Edward Lewkenor of Denham, Suffolk. Born in 1612, she survived her husband until 15 July 1663, and was mother of eight sons and three daughters.

The eldest son, Hamon , became the second baronet, and died unmarried eight months after his father on 15 Feb. 1655-6, aged 24. He was succeeded as third baronet by his next brother, Nicholas, who died on 13 Dec. 1669, having married, first, Mary, daughter of John Coke of Hollkham, Norfolk, and secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Justinian Isham of Lamport. The second wife was buried in Westminster Abbey on 6 Aug. 1689 ( CHESTER, Westminster Abbey Reg. p.224 ). A son Nicholas ( of the first marriage ) became fourth baronet ( d. 1725 ), and helped to relieve the distresses of his grand-uncle, Sir Roger L'Estrange, in his old age. He refused the oaths to William III in 1696, but was finally pardoned ( Letters of Humphrey Prideaux, Camd. Soc.,pp.172-4). On the death of the fourth baronet's second son, Sir Henry L'Estrange (sixth baronet ), on 2 Sept. 1760, the title passed to Roger L'Estrange, Son of Roger, sixth son of of the first baronet, who was living in reduced circumstances at Beccles,Suffolk. This Sir Roger died at 21 April 1762, and the baronetcy became extinct. The present family at Hunstanton decend from Sir Henry's sister Armine, wife of Nicholas Styleman of Snettisham.

( Carthew's Hist. of Launditch, i. 139-45; Blomefield's Hist. Norfolk, x.314; Thoms's Anecdotes and Traditions, with notices of L'Estrange by J.G. Nicholas,pp.xi-xxviii;Hist. MSS. Comm. 11th Rep. pt. vii.pp 104 sq.; information kindly supplied by Hamon le Strange, esq.,of Hunstanton Hall.)

Armine L'Estrange was born at Hunstanton on 9 Jun 1691, baptized privately the same night, and publicly received on 23 Jun 1691.
Armine L'Estrange married Nicholas Styleman III of Snettisham in Hunstanton Church on 16 Feb 1720.
Nicholas attended Trinity College, Cambridge, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1705, and Master of Arts degree in 1709. Nicholas died on 6 Jan 1746'7, and Armine continued living at Hunstanton Hall. Nicholas' Will was dated 6 Dec 1746, and was proven in London on 31 Jan 1747.
Upon the death of her brother Sir Henry L'Estrange in 1760, Sir Roger L'Estrange of Harleston became the 7th and last Baronet. When Sir Roger died in 1762, control of Hunstanton passed to Armine and her sister Lucy Astley née L'Estrange, who jointly became co-heirs of their brother Sir Henry L'Estrange, 5th Baronet of Hunstanton.
Armine died on 29 May 1768, was buried next to her husband at Snettisham on 3 Jun 1768, and is reputed to have become a ghost, called the Grey Lady, who haunts the Needlework Bedroom in the Gatehouse of Hunstanton Hall. Her Will was proven on 13 Jun 1768.

John Styleman
Born: circa 1721 - Christened 6 Mar 1722
Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England
Died: 1732
Place: Bury, Norfolk County, England

Nicolas Styleman IV Born: 2 Apr 1722 - Christened 3 Apr 1722 Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England Died: 9 Jan 1788 Place: Snettishham, Norfolk County, England Married: Catherine Henley Born: circa 1724 Place: Leigh, Somerset County, England Died: 24 Aug 1793 Place: Snettishham, Norfolk County, England Date Married: 1751

Son of Nicholas Styleman III and Armine L'Estrange, Nicholas Styleman IV, Esquire, was baptized at Snettisham on the day after his birth.
He owned estates in Hunstanton and Snettisham, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1743. He married Catherine Henley (died 24 Aug 1793), daughter of Henry Hoste Henley, Henley of Leigh, Somersetshire, in 1751.
Catherine Henley's arms were depicted on a small steel seal which was in the possession of Hamon le Strange VI, showing Styleman impaling Henley, azure, a lion rampant argent, crowned or, within a bordure of the second charged with eight torteaux. The arms were also engraved on a silver bread basket given to Roland le Strange né Styleman le Strange on his marriage, 22 Oct 1891.
Nicholas aquired the nickname the 'Jolly Squire' due to his fun-loving and extravagant lifestyle, and in contradistinction to the 'Divine Squire' his brother the Reverend Armine Styleman. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Norfolk by Sir George, Earl of Oxford, on 30 Mar 1759, and became High Sheriff in 1776. Nicholas died without issue on 9/10 Jan 1788, was buried at Snettisham on 12 Jan 1788, and succeeded by his brother the Reverend Armine Styleman. His Will was proven on 11 Apr 1788. Catherine was buried at Snettisham on 27 Aug 1793, and her Will was proven on 26 Apr 1794.

Alaska place-names
Introduction
George Vancouver visited Alaska in 1793 and 1794. During this time he and his men were the first to chart the coastline in detail, meticulously surveying all the inlets along complicated mainland and offshore islands. In doing so, Vancouver bestowed names on many features and these are listed below, together with explanations as to why the names were chosen. Vancouver sometimes gave a reason himself and other names are very obvious.

However, the reasons for some names were lost or never explained. This page aims to explain some of the "lost" names. For example, Peter Puget, by 1794 in command of the Chatham named many of the features in Prince William Sound after members of his family. In one part of southeastern Alaska, Vancouver named many features after persons who had served with the British army in Ireland while, in another, all the names had a connection with Vancouver's home county of Norfolk.

Robert Styleman Born: 1724 - Christened 26 Sep 1726 Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England Died: 1763 Place: Snettishham, Norfolk County, England

Having attended school at Lynn for four years, and at Scarning for four years, he was admitted to Caius College, Cambridge, in Dec 1743 or Jan 1744, at the age of nineteen years, eventually earning a Bachelor of Arts degree at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1746, and a Master of Arts degree in 1750. He died at thirty-nine years apparently unmarried and without children.

Reverend Armine Styleman
Born: 24 May 1726 - Christened 25 May 1726
Place: Ringstead, Norfolk County, England
Died: 3 Apr 1803
Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England
Married: Ann Blakeway
Born: 1729
Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England
Died: 18 Apr 1795
Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England
Date Married: July 1753

William Styleman
Born: 1727 - Christened 25 Mar 1728
Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England
Died: under age
Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England

Anne Styleman
Born: 1729
Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England
Died: 1730
Place: Snettisham, Norfolk County, England

Initial information contained in this page is based on STILLMAN GENEOLOGY from Steeple Ashton compiled by Geoffrey Stillman of Australia in 1969; received updated version from Raymond Stillman of Holt, Trowbridge, Wiltshire County, England in 1984.

The Holt Family GEDCOM was referenced for additional material.

Further information on this page is based on research by John R. Mayer Styleman and Le Strange of Hunstanton 1691-1993 revision number 72, with permission from Barbara Way, bjway@tir.com
Information has been obtained from ancestry.com

Updated 7 Jan 1999