Robert Livingston the Elder

Robert Livingston the Elder
Portrait of Robert Livingston the Elder.
1st Lord of Livingston Manor
In office 1715 – 1728
Preceded by	Created
Succeeded by	Philip Livingston
Personal details
Born	(1654-12-13)December 13, 1654 Ancrum, near Jedburgh, County of Roxburgh, Scotland
Died	October 1, 1728(1728-10-01) (aged 73) Province of New York
Nationality	Scottish
Spouse(s)	Alida Schuyler Van Rensselaer (m. 1679; d. 1727)
Relations	See Livingston family
Children	9, including Philip, Robert and Gilbert.
Parents	Rev. John Livingston Janet Fleming

Robert Livingston the Elder (December 13, 1654 – October 1, 1728) was a New York colonial official, fur trader, and businessman; he was granted a patent to 160,000 acres (650 km²/ 250 sq mi) along the Hudson River, and became the first lord of Livingston Manor.

He was born in 1654 in the village of Ancrum, near Jedburgh, in the County of Roxburgh, Scotland, one of seven children of the Reverend John Livingston. He and his father were lineal descendants of the fourth William Livingston, 4th Lord Livingston (d. 1518), ancestor of the earls of Linlithgow and Callendar, and a minister of the Church of Scotland.

In 1663, his father, John Livingston, was sent into exile due to his resistance to attempts to turn the Presbyterian national church into an Episcopalian institution. The exiled family settled in Rotterdam, in the Dutch Republic, where English merchants also worked. Robert became fluent in the Dutch language, which helped him greatly in his later career in New York and New Jersey, part of the former Dutch colony of New Netherland.

Following the death of his father in 1673, Robert Livingston returned to Scotland for a time. He sailed for Boston to find his fortune in North America. Livingston's father was well known in Puritan Boston, and a merchant advanced the young son enough stock and credit to undertake a trading venture to Albany, New York. Livingston arrived in Albany in late 1674. With his business and language skills, in August 1675 he became secretary to Nicholas Van Rensselaer, director of Rensselaerswyck, who died a few years later in 1678.