Biography of Hon Robert Daniell, Landgrave

Born 20 April 1646.
Died 1 May 1718.

Wheresoever they may be found,
the descendants of the Landgrave Robert Daniell
are known for strong character,
great sense of honour, and trustworthiness.
A Daniell's word is his bond.

Robert Daniell was of a distinguished noble Anglo-Norman lineage of ancient Roman origin1. His direct male line was of haplogroup I-P37, originating in the Italian peninsula or east-Adriatic region, and found mainly in the Balkans, Italy, and Spain. Robert Daniell was personally invested with feudal nobility by King Charles II in 1698. The title was that of Landgrave, distinct to the feudal nobility of the new Carolina Colony. The title of Landgrave was the highest in Carolina, equivalent in rank to a feudal earl in England and Scotland and placed in precedence therefore immediately below the Lords of Parliament. The Carolina feudal nobility, like their counterparts in Britain, had the right to scarlet robes of estate and a golden chain of nobility.2,3,4 With his title he held 48,000 acres of land. A second Landgraviate was conferred in 1711 by Queen Anne Stuart, again with 48,000 acres.5

The Landgrave Daniell arrived to the British Colonies in the Americas in the year of our Lord 1669 on the ship The Daniell, which he owned and of which he was Captain. He first came to Barbados and Bermuda, then to Port Royal in the Colony of South Carolina. He relocated to Charles Towne (present-day Charleston, South Carolina, USA) late in 1669.6


Portrait of Landgrave Robert Daniell
The original is in the private
collection of a Roman prince.

He was a soldier and military commander, a Colonial Governor with vice-regal authority, a statesman and legislator who helped to carve a new society out of the American colonies, a staunchly-devout churchman, a sea captain, and a man of great loyalty, strength, and integrity. He is one of the most colourful and distinguished figures of the American Colonies.


Gate at the entrance of Daniel(l) Island

Enormously wealthy, the Landgrave Daniell's vast land holdings included what was then known as the Winyah Barony. It is a region of land on the Carolina coast within present-day Georgetown County, South Carolina, USA. The bay there, Winyah Bay, still bears the name. He also owned Daniell Island and Parris Island. The latter would eventually be owned by the American government and is now the site of the famous "United States Marine Corps Recruit Depot." Daniell Island was where Robert Daniell lived in the twilight of his incredible life. Today the island, which the State of South Carolina erroneously calls "Daniel Island," is a resort community that still honours its eminent namesake.7 Several of his plantations were also combined to form the modern Brookgreen Gardens in the "Grand Strand" coastal region of South Carolina.


Gate at the entrance to Brookgreen Garden

Robert Daniell was buried underneath St. Philip's Church, the old Anglican church in Charleston. His tombstone is prominently displayed in the center of the outside wall of the church. The tombstone reads thus:

Here lie the remains of the Hon Robert Daniell,
a brave man, who long served King William in his wars, both land and sea,
and afterwards governed this province under the Lords Proprietors.
 He died on the 1st day of May in the  year 1718 aged 72 years.
Here also was buried the body of Martha Logan, who was first the wife of
the above Robert Daniell and afterwards of Colonel George Logan.
 She died the 5th day of November 1743, at the age of 58. This vault also
contains the bodies of the above Colonel George Logan of His Majesty's
Army and the bodies of his son George Logan and of his son's wife, Martha,
who was the daughter of the above Robert Daniell.


Tombstone of Hon. Landgrave Robert Daniell
St. Philip's Church, Charleston


Robert Daniell's son and heir as Landgrave, John Daniell, began a career similar to his father's and was destined to attain the same degree of wealth and influence as his father. He was a sea captain and ship owner. After a time he quit the sea and held land in Charles Town and a plantation in New Hanover County, North Carolina (present-day Brunswick County). He was a Justice of the Peace and County Road Commissioner. He saw military action in the "Spanish Alarm" in 1748, a series of attacks by Spain on the Carolinas.

The Daniell family became prominent also in the Royal Province of Georgia. William Daniell, one of the sons of Landgrave John Daniell and his wife, Sarah Raven, received 200 acres in Wilkes County in 1773 and a further 300 acres in Wrightsboro in 1775. Opposed to the revolutionary sentiments that were afoot at the time, he was a signatory to the Wrightsboro Protest, a statement in opposition to the Boston Tea Party of 1775. However, when their multi-generational landholdings were threatened by the Crown forces' invasion of the southern colonies, there was but little choice to join with the Georgia militia. William Daniell was in the forces of General Elijah Clarke, who himself had remained loyal to the Crown until events prompted his joining the Georgia militia. William was in several engagements, including the Battle of Kettle Creek and the Battle of King's Mountain. William was noted for his valour in battle.8 After the war and the change of government, he was a statesman and participated in the development of the new Georgia Constitution.

 

1 Genealogical information for Robert Daniell, distinct from the Robert Daniell of the New England colonies, has been compiled by genealogists, historians, and authors such as Clara Daniell Williams, Ken Daniell, Daniel Coberly, and others. Genealogical information is on file with several genealogical and historical societies. The most reliable genealogical information is certified and contained within the archives of the Noble Company.

2 The two orders of feudal nobility in Carolina were Landgrave and Cassique. Landgrave derives from the same title (Landgraf in German) of the Holy Roman Empire. The rights to outward symbols of nobility, namely a coat of arms, a scarlet robe of estate, and a golden chain of nobility, were established in a document of 1705 that also appointed a Carolina Herald to organize the application of those rights. See appendix below.
See also Coberly, Daniel L. Sovereigns, Dynasties, & Nobility. Italian Heritage Press. 2014.

3 McCrady, Edward. The History of South Carolina Under the Proprietary Government, 1670-1719. 1897.

4 David A. Norris and Robert J. Cain. "Peerage." Encyclopedia of North Carolina. 2006

5 Williams, Clara Daniell. Daniell Family History.

Federal Writers' Project. The WPA Guide to South Carolina: The Palmetto State. Trinity University Press. 2013. Vol. 2. 1992.

6 Almanach of Würzburg. Society of Companions. Noble Company Press. 2016.

7 Coberly, Daniel L. Honor, Service, & Loyalty: A Johnson, Daniell, Lyle, Bethune, & de Loche Legacy: 800-2014. Italian Heritage Press. 2015.

Bates, Susan Baldwin, and Harriott Cheves Leland, eds. Proprietary Records of South Carolina. Volume One: Abstracts of the Records of the Secretary of The Province, 1675-1695. Charleston: History Press, 2005.

Bates, Susan Baldwin, and Harriott Cheves Leland, eds. Proprietary Records of South Carolina. Volume Three: Abstracts of the Records of the Surveyor General of The Province, Charles Towne, 1678-1698. Charleston: History Press, 2007.

8 Louise F. Hayes. Hero of Hornet's Nest. 1946.


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APPENDIX:
Excerpts from the document granting rights of symbolic usage to the nobility of Carolina:

"WHEREAS our late Sovereign Lord Charles the Second King of great Brittaine, France and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonging, of his special Grace and Favour did give and grant unto Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarl, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sr. George Carteret, Sr. John Colleton Knts. and Barts. and Sr. William Berkeley Knt. our Predecessors and to their Heires and Successors forever, together with the Province of Carolina, Power, States, Degrees, both of Titles, Dignities and Honours, there to be Settled and Sett up as of Men well deserving the same Degrees to bear, and with such Titles to be Honoured and adorned, AND WHEREAS by our form of Government It was by our said Predecessor Established and Constituted, and is by us and our Heires and Successors for ever to be observed, That there be a certain Number of Landgraves and Cassiques who may be and are the perpetual and Hereditary Nobles and Peers of our said Province of Carolina, and to the End that above Rule and Order of Honor may be Established and Settled in our Said Province. We therefore...the Lord Proprietors of the said Province of Carolina being well Satisfied of the great Integrity, Sckill and Ability of you the Sd. Laurence Cromp, Doe hereby make, Constitute and appoint, and hereby have made, constituted and appointed You the said Laurence Cromp to be President of our Court of Honor and principal Herald of our whole Province of Carolina, by the Name of Carolina Herald. To hold the Same dureing the Term of Your Natural Life with such Fees, Perquisites and Proffitts as Shall be approved on and Settled by us, and as perpetual Monument of our Favour towards our Landgraves and Cassiques and their Meritt, We do hereby Authorise, Impower and direct you the said Laurence Cromp Carolina Herald, to devyse, give, Grant and Assigne to the said Landgraves and Cassiques of our Sd. Province upon the Face of the Sun in its' Glory Such Arms and Crest as you Shall think most proper, & upon the Escocheon of the said Arms a Landgraves & Cassiques Cap of Honor, which said Badges or Distinctions of Honor they are not to make use till assigned by You, and to Invest our Said Landgraves & Cassiques that are already made & to be made, in Robes of Scarlet Interlaced with Gold, to be by them worn on all great & Solemn Occasions, & also to Invest them with a Purple Ribbon or Gold Chain, with the Sun in its Glory Pendant at the Same, with this Motto about the Face of the Said Sun VIDIT QUE DEUS HANC LUCEM ESSE BONAM, which said Gold Chain and Sun or Purple Ribbon & Sun, We Injoyne and require them always to appear with. Draughts of all which are depicted in the Margin hereof, & We doe hereby grant & Confirm to the said Landgraves & Cassiques of our Said Province and their Heires for Ever all the above mentioned Honorable Distinctions of Nobility. And We do hereby further direct, Grant & impower you, under your hand & Seal to devyse, Give, grant and assign upon the Face of the Sun in its' Glory such Arms & Crests as you Shall think most ffitt & proper to all such Inhabitants of our said Province, that to you shall appear deserving the Same as an Everlasting Monumt. to them and their Posterity of their Rise & Descent from our sd. Province of Carolina, And We likewise Impower You to hold a Court of Honor & to Cite & Cause to appear before you all such Person or Persons, as Shall presume to use any Coat of Arms that they cannot make out their due Right to, then to deface the Same wheresoever borne or Sett up & make publick Proclaimacon thereof, and also we require that all the Inhabitants aforesaid duely observe the Rules & Orders of your Said Court. And you are also hereby obliged to keep a Register of all Such Arms, Crests or Alterations & Assignmts. of Arms as Shall by you be granted or Assigned to Any Persons Inhabitants of Our said Province, And you are to preserve & Register the Pedigrees and Descents of the Severall Familys Inhabitants of Our Said Province, And you are to regulate all Publick & Solemne Processions & Meetings & all & Singular the promisses above mentioned....Given under Our Hands & the great Seal of Our Province 1st June 1705." Signed by Lords Proprietors Granville, Craven, Carteret, Ashley, and Colleton, this copy of the document was "Taken from the Originall in the Custody of Peter LeNeue...& now in the Custody of Mr. Hodgson...who is one of the Landgraves."


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