The Billopp Family

Captain Christopher Billopp (sometimes spelled Billop) came to New York with the newly appointed royal governor of the province of New York and New Jersey, Edmund Andros, in 1674. In 1676, Billopp received a patent for 932 acres of land on the southern tip of Staten Island plus 30 acres of salt meadow on the west shore of Staten Island. It is believed Billopp built his stone manor house ca. 1680.

In August 1677, Billopp accepted an appointment as Collector of Customs for Delaware. He resided in New Castle, Delaware, while his wife remained on Staten Island managing the property. In 1687 his land grant was increased to 1,630 acres and became the Manor of Bentley. During the next few decades he traveled back and forth to England several times. He died in London in 1725.

In 1702, Billopp put his two daughters, Mary and Anne, in charge of Bentley Manor. Mary married twice, each time a clergyman, and had no children. Anne married Colonel Thomas Farmar in 1705 and resided in the Manor house. Their third son, Thomas, born in 1711, assumed the name of Billopp and inherited the estate. Thomas and his second wife, Sarah Leonard, had eight children; Colonel Christopher Billopp, of Revolutionary War fame, was the oldest.

Colonel Christopher Billopp (1737-1827) the eldest son of Thomas and Sarah Farmar Billopp, was born in the manor house and inherited the Manor of Bentley. He was the “Tory Colonel” of the American Revolution.

During the war, Colonel Billopp was very active, and received many communications and orders from those in authority, especially in the year 1777. Billopp was in command of the Richmond County (Staten Island) militia before the war, and later commanded a regiment of native loyalists. He was described as “…a man of courage and energy, of high standing in the province of New York – of the Assembly of which he was a member for some years.”

Col. Billopp’s brother, Thomas Farmar (he reassumed the family name Farmar) “…was a staunch whig, and joined the colonists in their struggle for liberty. He turned out in the militia with his musket as a private, but it is not known that he was in active service.”

Col. Billopp was active in enforcing the order prohibiting communication between Staten Island and New Jersey, and the patriots of New Jersey were very hostile toward him, taking him prisoner on two occasions. His estate, Bentley Manor, was confiscated, and on July 16, 1784, commissioners of forfeitures for the southern district of New York sold 850 acres of Bentley Manor to Thomas McFarren, merchant, for 4.695 pounds. But Billopp had already deeded this property, including the manor house.

Billopp moved to Canada with all of his family except for his two sons, Thomas and John, who became businessmen in New York city. Colonel Billopp died at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada in 1827.
His gravestone reads:

Sacred / to / the memory of / the Honorable / Christopher Billopp / A member of His Majesty’s / council in this province, whose / uncompromising loyalty and / distinguished exertions as/ a Lieu. Colonel, in the Royal / cause during the American / rebellion, obliged him at the / termination of that contest, to / abandon without compensation / his hereditary property on Staten / Island, and retire with his family / to this Colony, wherein he has since / resided universally respected./ He died on the 28, day of March / 1827, in the 90th year /

of his age.