Christopher Billopp (Royal Navy officer)

Christopher Billopp or Billop (c. 1650 – 1725[1]) was an English officer of the Royal Navy in the seventeenth century who commanded various ships of the line, including HMS Greenwich in the Battle of Bantry Bay. He is noted as part of the "Staten Island Legend", a likely apocryphal story which describes Billopp's circumnavigation of Staten Island in a sailing race to claim it for New York. Though the legend has survived in oral tradition and popular culture since at least the 19th century, there is no concrete evidence that such a race actually occurred.

For his great grandson, a British loyalist, see Christopher Billop.

Christopher Billopp
"Bentley Manor", now known as "The Conference House"
Personal details
Bornc. 1650
Died1725(1725-00-00) (aged 74–75)

Government service

In 1709, Billopp received a charter to operate the Perth Amboy Ferry, part of an important overland route between New York and Philadelphia.[2]

Staten Island legend

The legend describes Billopp's alleged role in securing Staten Island for New York. To settle a territorial dispute between New York and New Jersey, the Duke of York was said to have come up with a novel solution: he declared that all islands in New York Harbor that could be circumnavigated in 24 hours would belong to New York, and if such a voyage took longer than that, they would belong to New Jersey.

At this time, Billopp was just across the waterway from Staten Island at Perth Amboy, New Jersey aboard a small two-gun vessel called the Bentley. Billopp was selected for the duke's challenge. While struggling to figure out how to complete the more than 35-mile (56 km) voyage within the duke's time frame of 24 hours, Billopp reasoned that if he packed the deck of his ship with empty barrels, the extra surface area could harness some more wind giving his ship a slight boost in speed. Thus equipped, Billopp completed the circumnavigation in just over 23 hours and secured Staten Island for New York. In recognition of his achievement, the duke awarded Billopp a total of 1,163 acres (4.71 km2) of land located in what is now the Tottenville section of Staten Island. On this land, Billopp built his house, which he named the Manor of Bentley in honor of his ship.[3][4]

While this anecdote has been widely repeated, including by Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg, reliable historical documentation of the event is extremely sparse, and most historians conclude that it is entirely apocryphal. In 2007, The New York Times addressed the issue in a news article, which concluded that this event was heavily embellished over the years and almost certainly originated in local folklore.[5] YouTuber CGP Grey addressed the story of the Staten Island race and its historical discrepancies in a 2019 video.[6]

HMS Victory, one of the ships captained by Christopher Billopp

Billopp served in a number of Royal Naval vessels:

Crown grants and legacy

Billopp was given a crown grant by James, Duke of York in 1676 for according to sources either 932 acres (3.77 km2) or 1,167 acres (4.72 km2), on Staten Island in the colony of New York, which became known as the Billop plantation.[8][9] He built a stone manor house upon the land named "Bentley Manor", after the name of a small ship he had commanded, the Bentley.[3][4]

In 1687, he received a second crown grant.[10] Although land ownership went through several hands, including those of William Henry Aspinwall,[11] the neighborhood retained the Bentley Manor name into the early 20th century.[12] The house, inherited by his great grandson Colonel Christopher Billopp, a British Loyalist during the American Revolution, was the setting for a failed peace conference between Lord Howe and members of the Continental Congress. His house is now a United States National Historic Landmark known as the Conference House.[13]

References
  1. "Christopher Billop (1650-1725)". threedecks.org. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  2. Adams, Arthur G. (1996), The Hudson Through the Years, Fordham University Place, ISBN 978-0-8232-1676-5
  3. Comstock, Sarah (7 September 1913). "Following Billops's Route to Tottenville". The New York Times. pp. X8. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  4. Reynolds, Patrick M. (1989). The Big Apple Almanac: Volume One. The Town of Willow Street, Pennsylvania: The Red Rose Studio. pp. 29–30. ISBN 0-932514-19-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. Chan, Sewell (21 February 2007). "That Old Tale About S.I.? Hold on Now". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  6. Stein, Mark (13 September 2019). "A boat race determined Staten Island's fate, legend says. But is it true? CGP Grey seeks answers". silive.com. Staten Island Advance. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  7. The manuscripts of the Earl of Dartmouth, Volume 3 By Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts
  8. Brodhead, John Romeyn (1871). History of the State of New York. Vol. 2. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 411.
  9. Cromwell Childe (1895). "Haunted Houses". The American Magazine. New York: Frank Leslie's Publishing House.
  10. English Crown Grants By S.L. Mershon NEW YORK THE LAW AND HISTORY CLUB: PUBLISHERS 39 CORTLANDT STREET 1918
  11. F. W. Beers (1874). Atlas of Staten Island, Richmond County, New York (Map). New York: J. B. Beers & Co. § 31. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  12. Atlas of the Borough of Richmond City of New York (Map). New York: E. Robinson. 1907. § 22. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  13. History of Thomas and Anne Billopp Farmar, and Some of their Descendants in America by Charles Farmer Billopp (Hardcover - 22 September 2009) Publisher: BiblioLife Language: English ISBN 1-113-76577-1 ISBN 978-1113765772

Bibliography
  • The Londons of the British fleet, how they faced the enemy on the day of battle and what their story means for us to-day, Edward Fraser (1908), J. Lane (London)
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