Conant family


The Conant family is a distinguished aristocratic 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 of East Budleigh, Devon. His son Richard, had eight children including his second son Robert and his youngest child Roger.
Robert Conant's eldest son the Rev. John Conant was a noted theologian who was Regius Professor of Divinity and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. John Conant's great-grandson Nathaniel served as Chief Magistrate of the Bow Street Magistrates' Court and was knighted in 1813. Nathaniel's great-great-grandson Sir Roger Conant, 1st Baronet was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament who served as Comptroller of the Household from 1951 to 1954 and was created a baronet in 1954.
Roger Conant, the youngest child of Richard, emigrated to the Plymouth Colony 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, subsequently founding the town of Salem, Massachusetts. There are numerous notable descendants of Roger.
The following genealogical tree illustrates the links among the more notable family members:

Family tree