| House of Lyon (de Lyon, de Leonne, Lyon) | |
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| House of Haute Normandie | |
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| Founded | 1066 (in Britain) |
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The Lyons family (originally styled de Lyons, or de Leonne, Lyonne, and also spelled Lyon) is an eminent Anglo-Norman family descended from Ingelram de Lyons, Lord of Lyons, who arrived in England with the Norman Conquest, and from his relation, Nicholas de Lyons, who emigrated from Normandy to England in 1080 and was granted lands at Warkworth, Northamptonshire by William of Normandy. The family originated in the district of the Forest of Lyons, north of the town of Lyons-la-Forêt, in Haute Normandie, where their seat was the Castle of Lyons. The original surname was 'de Lyons' ('of [the Forest and Castle] of Lyons'): subsequently, the 'de' was removed from the name, and some branches removed the 's' from the end of the word, producing 'Lyon'.
During the 14th century, a branch of the family emigrated to Scotland, where they became Clan Lyon, the Lords of Glamis, and the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne. During the 15th century, a branch of the family emigrated to Ireland, where they established a seat at King's County that became known as River Lyons, and a seat at County Westmeath that was named Ledestown/Ledistown Hall, from which they served as High Sheriff of Westmeath and as High Sheriff of King's County. This branch of the family owned land in Antigua and later removed from Ireland to England. Their descendants include Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons; Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons, the British diplomat who solved the Trent Affair; and Sir Algernon McLennan Lyons, Admiral of the Fleet.[1] During the 16th and 17th centuries, including after the English Civil War, some members of the family emigrated to America to New York, America.
The descendants of the Warkworth family who remained in England had ceased to reside at Warkworth by the 16th century, and resided on estates in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Middlesex. They intermarried with descendants of the branch of the family that had emigrated to Scotland. The Middlesex line of the family produced Sir John Lyon, who was Lord Mayor of London for 1553–1554, and John Lyon (d. 1592), who was the founder of Harrow School, after whom The John Lyon School, and the John Lyon's Charity, and a Harrow School house, Lyon's, are named.
The Lyons family members are the agnatic ancestors of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, mother of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.