DE LANNOY, Peter (1607-75), of St Saviour, Southwark, Surr.

De Lannoy sprang from immigrant stock. Representatives of his family, whose name was rendered variously Delan(n)oy, Delaney, De Lannois, and de la Noy(e), had lived in London since at least the mid-sixteenth century. One John Delannoy was an alien resident in St Olave, Southwark, in 1552; another, a merchant originating from Lille in the Southern Netherlands, was living in Aldgate in 1568; and a third, who arrived that year, came over from Flanders ‘for religion’; all appear to have been Protestants who sought refuge from Habsburg persecution.17Returns of Aliens (Huguenot Soc. quarto ser. x), i. 242; ii. 138; iii. 405. De Lannoy’s parents were active members of the French church in Threadneedle Street, where they had several children baptized, beginning with John or Jean in December 1605.18Reg. French Church Threadneedle Street, 59, 67, 77, 84, 91, 114. His father, also John, was an elder in June 1621 and March 1628; his mother was several times a godmother.19Procs. Huguenot Soc. iii/2, p. 117; vii/1, p. 75; Reg. French Church Threadneedle Street, 152.

However, the MP’s father was also a member of the London social and commercial élite. Noted as a dyer in returns of strangers made in 1638/9, he was part of the fabric of St Olave’s parish.20Returns of Strangers, 269. His will, drawn up in September 1636 and proved in May 1639, mentioned not only the poor of the French congregation but also the vestrymen of St Olave’s (to whom he left £10 for a dinner) and its minister, as well as land in Kent and Warwickshire. He probably envisaged that all four of his sons would follow him into trade: the two elder, John and Peter, were described as ‘fully advanced’; both were married, the latter having a daughter, Mary.21PROB11/180/121. By 1640 Peter de Lannoy, who had married at St Mary, Battersea in 1633, was living ‘streetside of St Christopher yard’ in the neighbouring parish of St Saviour; recorded as ‘a dyer’, he had sons and daughters baptized there, although at least five who died young were buried in St Olave.22LMA, R612 St Saviour token books; St Saviour and St Olave par. regs. Peter’s younger brother Benjamin, recently out of his apprenticeship, was admitted to the service of the East India Company in October 1641.23Cal. Ct. Mins. E. I. Co. 1640-48, 203.

Peter adventured £100 in the scheme to put down the Irish rebellion, a stake he still held in 1653.24J.P. Prendergast, The Cromwellian Settlement in Ireland (1870), 428; SP63/284, f. 168v. On 29 July 1642, now resident in Peper Alley, Bridge Street, he contributed one grey gelding with an armed and coated rider, together valued at £20, to the parliamentarian war effort.25SP28/131, pt. iii, f. 26. Three weeks later he was among those appointed by the Commons to oversee searches for ‘dangerous and suspected persons, who lodge privately ... to be in readiness to occasions tumults’ in Southwark and other suburbs.26CJ ii. 707a. Between 1647 and 1650 and again from 1657, he was nominated a commissioner for militia and for assessments in Southwark and Surrey.27A. and O. It is plausible, given the general trajectory of his career, that the Presbyterianism revealed by his eldership in the tenth London classis was complemented by political Presbyterianism and support for the militia as a counter-force to the New Model army.28Woodhead, Rulers of London, 59.

At elections in Southwark for the first protectorate Parliament, De Lannoy offered himself on a ticket with the commander of the local trained bands, Colonel John Hardwick. However, according to petitions to the protector and council signed by over 160 inhabitants, although they obtained a majority, the bailiff, Samuel Warcupp, used rainy weather, threats of violence and other means to manipulate the poll, so as to return his son Robert Warcupp* with Samuel Hyland*. Despite their complaints, the result was upheld.29SP18/74, ff. 122, 124, 130, 132.

De Lannoy may have been the merchant of that name briefly detained with others at Rye in February 1655 as they brought goods back from Dieppe; if so, suspicion of his conduct was fleeting.30CSP Dom. 1655, p. 47. He stood again for Southwark in 1656, this time successfully, being returned alongside the much more radical Hyland. His first committee appointment, a month into the session, was to look into the arrears due from those who held patents to search cargoes of captured ships (17 Oct.), an area in which, as a likely importer of colourants, he probably had a personal interest.31CJ vii. 440b. Three days later he was nominated to the committee for trade.32CJ vii. 442a. But he had only one further appointment that year – to consideration of the case of Rodney versus Cole, which revealed flaws in legal proceedings (22 Nov.) – and then only two the next spring – one of them to discuss the purchase of impropriations to support ministers and lecturers, which doubtless sprang from his continuing religious commitment (31 Mar. 1657).33CJ vii. 457b, 515b, 532a. However, despite his low profile, he was listed as having voted for kingship on 25 March.34The Narrative of the Late Parliament (1658), 22 (E.935.5). In the second session of the Parliament he was mentioned only once in the Journal, but his inclusion (28 Jan. 1658) in the deputation to the protector seeking the publication of the latter’s views on the state of public finances probably indicates recognition of a certain standing in the chamber and the City.35CJ vii. 589a.

This was the end of De Lannoy’s parliamentary career. He occupied certain local offices both before and after the Restoration, most notably that of treasurer of St Thomas’s hospital, which he held from May 1669 until his death, but he avoided others.36LMA, HL/ST/A1/5, f. 154. Elected an alderman of the Vintry ward on 6 February 1668 on the nomination of the Lord Mayor, he was discharged six days later on payment of a fine of £520.37Woodhead, Rulers of London, 59. As he acknowledged in his will, drawn up in May 1674, God had endowed him generously with wealth. His youngest, unmarried daughter received £1,000 ‘for her advancement’, while all his surviving children – son Peter and four daughters – were each given £25 for mourning clothes. There were legacies to the hospital and St Saviour’s parish, while his wife Anne was named executor.38PROB11/349/191. De Lannoy died in November 1675 and was buried at St Olave on the 18th.39St Olave par. reg. His replacement at St Thomas was appointed on 3 December.40LMA, HL/ST/A1/5, f. 171v.

Peter the younger did not sit in Parliament, but was sheriff of Surrey in 1687-8 and a merchant and entrepreneur of some prominence.41Cal. of Treasury Pprs. i. 570; SP31/3, f. 262; SP44/70, f. 292. The MP’s brother Benjamin, usually known simply as Benjamin Lannoy, was from November 1659 a long-serving consul in Aleppo.42CSP Dom. 1659-60, p. 267; 1670 with addenda, p. 412; Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 3), ii. 262. Their nephew, Peter Daniel†, was a sheriff of London and Member for Southwark in 1685.43HP Commons 1660-1690.