Patroonships, Manors, and Seigneuries
Landholding in Colonial America
The manorial estates of colonial America—Patroonships, Manors, and Seigneuries—shaped early settlement patterns and left a lasting mark on the land, law, and history of the New World.
In the early colonial period, several provinces in North America adopted landholding systems modeled on European traditions. Patroonships in New Netherland, manors in New York and Maryland, and seigneuries in New France granted large estates to influential individuals, often with limited legal or economic privileges resembling the English manorial system.
These estates played a formative role in the settlement and development of the colonies. They shaped patterns of land ownership, local governance, and agricultural production, and helped define the social hierarchy of their regions. While the American adaptations never fully replicated their European counterparts, they left a lasting imprint on local identity, property law, and the physical landscape.
Today, the history of these estates offers a unique lens into the growth of early America. Preserving their stories helps us understand how European traditions were adapted to a new world and how these early experiments in landholding influenced the communities that followed.
Lists of Patroonships, Manors, and Seigneuries
Below are partial lists of Patroonships, Manors, and Seigneuries in the New York area, in Maryland, and in New France accepted by the Order. The lists are not exhaustive, nor guaranteed to be completely accurate, but should provide a good starting place for genealogical research. As noted in the membership section, descent from a Lord of the Manor does not by itself convey or guarantee membership. If you have any questions, please contact the Order.
New York and its Jurisdiction
This map, from the 1976 Yearbook, gives most locations. Manors not on the map include Eaton (Eaton’s Neck, L.I.), Fletcherdon (in Orange Co.), Fox Hall (near Kingston), Greenwich, and Kingsfield (in Schenectady Co.). There may have been other qualifying patroonships and seigneuries in New York’s jurisdiction.
New York
| Patroonship | Patroon | Date Granted |
| Colen Donck | Adriaen van der Donck | 1646 |
| Greenwich | Daniel Patrick, Robert Feake, Elizabeth Feake | 1642 |
| Pavonia | Michael Pauw | 1630 |
| Rensselaerswyck | Kiliaen van Rensselaer | 1630 |
| Staten Island | Cornelius Melyn | 1642 |
| Manor | Lord | Date Granted |
| Bentley | Christopher Billopp | 1687 |
| Cassiltown | John Palmer | 1687 |
| Cortlandt | Stephanus van Cortlandt | 1697 |
| Eaton | Richard and Alexander Bryan | 1686 |
| Fisher's Island | John Winthrop, Jr. | 1666, 1668 |
| Fletcherdon | John Evans | 1694 |
| Fordham | John Archer | 1671, 1673 |
| Fox Hall | Thomas Chambers | 1672, 1686 |
| Gardiner's Island | David Gardiner | 1665, 1686 |
| Kingsfield | Nicholas Bayard | 1695 |
| Livingston | Robert Livingston | 1686 |
| Morrisania | Lewis Morris | 1697 |
| Pelham | Thomas Pell | 1666 |
| Manor | Lord | Date Granted |
| Pelham | John Pell | 1687 |
| Philipsborough | Frederick Philipse | 1693 |
| Plum Island | Samuel Wyllys | 1675 |
| Queens Village | James Lloyd | 1686 |
| Rensselaerswyck | Jeremias Van Rensselaer | 1664, 1665 |
| Rensselaerswyck | Kiliaen Van Rensselaer | 1685, 1704 |
| St. George | William Smith | 1693, 1697 |
| Scarsdale | Caleb Heathcote | 1701 |
| Shelter Island | Nathaniel and Constant Sylvester | 1666 |
| Sophy / Prudence Island | John Paine | 1672 |
| Tisbury / Martha's Vineyard | Thomas and Matthew Mayhew | 1671 |
| Tisbury / Martha's Vineyard | Matthew Mayhew | 1689 |
Maryland
This list is based on Harry Wright Newman Seigniory In Early Maryland…. (Descendants of Lords of the Maryland Manors, Baltimore, 1949) pp. 55–66 and Donnell MacClure Owings “Private Manors: An Edited List”, as reprinted (with apparent extra footnotes) in the Order’s Publication No. 30 at pp. 37–57.
| Manor | Lord | Date Granted |
| Abington | John Abington | 1653 |
| Abington['s] Cliffs | John Abington | 1653 |
| Admariothria | George Thompson | 1662 |
| Bas[h]ford | Thomas Gerrard | 1651 |
| Bathe | Peter Bathe | 1660 |
| Boar[e]man's | William Boar[e]man | 1676 |
| Bobing | Thomas Greene | by 1642 |
| Bohemia | Augustine Herrman | 1676 |
| Brooke Court | Robert Brooke | ? |
| Brooke Court | Baker Brooke | 1658 |
| Brooke Place | Robert Brooke | 1650 |
| Brooke Place | Baker Brooke | 1658 |
| Canterbury | Dr. Richard Tilghman | 1660 |
| Canterbury | Richard Preston | 1666 |
| Cary | Thomas Cary | 1657 |
| Causine['s] | Nicholas Causine | 1649 |
| Causine['s] | Ignatius Causine | 1659 |
| Cerne Abbey / Duddington | Thomas Notley | 1672 |
| Chandler | Job Chandler | ? |
| Chancellor's Point | Philip Calvert | 1659 |
| Charles' Gift | Jane, Lady Baltimore | 1677 |
| Christian Temple | Thomas Allanson | 1667 |
| Cold Spring / Cool Spring | Josias Fendall | 1657 |
| Cold Spring / Cool Spring | John Douglass | 1677 |
| Cooke's Hope | Miles Cooke | 1660 |
| Cornwalleys Cross | Thomas Cornwalleys | 1639 |
| Crayford | John Boteler | ca.1638 |
| Darnall's | Henry Darnall | 1664 |
| De La Brooke | Robert Brooke | 1650 |
| De La Brooke | Baker Brooke | 1658 |
| Doyley | Robert Doyley | 1658 |
| Elk Point | Richard Husbands | 1660 |
| Eltonhead / Little Eltonhead | William Eltonhead | 1649 |
| Evelynton / Evelinton | George Evelyn | 1638 |
| Fenwick / St. Cuthbert's | Cuthbert Fenwick | 1651 |
| Friendship | Bennett Hoskins | 1672 |
| Godlington | Thomas Godlington | 1660 |
| Grafton | John Harris | 1660 |
| Great Oak | Josias Fendall | 1658 |
| Great Eltonhead | Edward Eltonhead | 1652 |
| Great Eltonhead | Henry Sewall | 1663 |
| Hayward | Stephen Hayward | 1658 |
| Hayward-Foot | Nicholas Hayward and Richard Foot | 1657 |
| Jackson's | Nicholas Jackson | 1660 |
| Jennings | Richard Jennings | 1658 |
| Job's Content | Job Nutt | 1657 |
| Kent Fort | Giles Brent | 1640 |
| Mattapany-Sewall | Henry Sewall | 1663 |
| Mattapany-Sewall | Madame Jane Sewall | 1665 |
| Mattapany-Sewall | Nicholas Sewall | 1722 |
| Mattawoman Neck | Thomas Cornwalleys | 1654 |
| Morton | Philip Calvert | 1660 |
| Mount Calvert | Philip Calvert | 1657 |
| My Lady's Manor | Margaret, Lady Baltimore | 1713 |
| Manor | Lord | Date Granted |
| Oversee | Simon Oversee | ? |
| Philipsburgh | Philip Calvert | 1670 |
| Portland | Jerome Whyte | 1667 |
| Poynton / Nanjemoy | Governor William Stone | 1654 |
| Prior's | Thomas Adams | 1641 |
| Ratcliffe | Robert Morris | 1660 |
| Ratcliffe | Dr. Henry Wasse | 1676 |
| Resurrection | Thomas Cornwalleys | 1651 |
| Rich Neck | William Mitchell | 1649 |
| St. Anne's | John Lewger (Sr.) | 1640 |
| St. Barbara's | John Lewger (Jr.) | 1661 |
| St. Augustine's | Ephraim Georgius Herrman | 1684 |
| St. Clement's | Thomas Gerrard | 1639, 1642 |
| St. Clement's | Justinian Gerrard | 1678 |
| St. Elizabeth's | Thomas Cornwalleys | 1639 |
| St. Gabriel's | Leonard Calvert | 1634 |
| St. Helen's | Jerome Hawley | by 1636 |
| St. Inigoe's | Ferdinando Poulton | 1639, 1641 |
| St. Inigoe's | Thomas Copley | 1641 |
| St. Inigoe's | Cuthbert Fenwick | 1641, 1651 |
| St. Inigoe's | Ralph Crouch | 1651 |
| St. Inigoe's | Henry Warren | 1663 |
| St. Jerome's | Jerome Hawley | by 1636 |
| St. John's | Charles Calvert | ? |
| St. Joseph's | Nicholas Harvey | 1642 |
| St. Michael's | Leonard Calvert | 1634 |
| St. Richard's | Richard Gardiner alias Garnett | 1640 |
| St. Richard's | Luke Gardiner | 1652 |
| St. Thomas's | Thomas Mathews | 1649 |
| Sarum | Joseph Pile | 1680 |
| Sarum | Madame Sarah Pile | 1680 |
| Snow Hill | Justinian Snow | ? |
| Snow Hill | Abel Snow | 1640 |
| Snow Hill | James Lindsey and Richard Willan | 1652 |
| Spesutia Island | Nathaniel Utie | 1661 |
| Stephenhea[l]th | Samuel Pensax | 1660 |
| Stratford | Richard Chandler | 1660 |
| Susquehanna / New Connaught / Talbot | George Talbot | 1680 |
| Swaile | Philip Calvert | 1660 |
| Thompson's | Richard Thompson | 1640 |
| Tilghman's Fortune | Samuel Tilghman | 1660 |
| Trinity | Leonard Calvert | 1634 |
| Truman's Place | Nathaniel Truman | 1665 |
| Warberton / Barberton | Dr. Luke Barber | 1661 |
| West St. Mary's | Henry Fleete | 1634 |
| Westbury | Thomas Weston | 1643 |
| Westwood | Thomas Gerrard | 1651 |
| Wharton | Jesse Wharton | 1675 |
| Wiske / Danby | Philip Calvert | 1660 |
| Wolleston | James Neale | 1642 |
| Wolseley / Chancellor's Point | Philip Calvert | 1660 |
| Wolseley Point | Philip Calvert | 1664 |
| Worton | Henry Meese | 1658 |
| Worton | Edward Carter | 1661 |
New France
| Seigneurie | Seigneur | Date Granted |
| Alainville | Michel Chartier, Marquis de Lotbinière | 1758 |
| Bélair de la Pointe-aux-Écureuils | Toussaint Toupin | 1672 |
| Bonsecours | Mathieu Amyot de Villeneuve | 1672 |
| St. Michel | Michel Messier | 1668 |
The Order of Colonial Lords of Manors in America strives to ensure that the story of America’s manorial past — and its role in shaping our early communities — remains accessible, accurate, and alive for generations to come.