St Leger Family
For the horse race of the same name see St. Leger Stakes.For the Saint of this name see Leodegar.The
St. Leger (pronounced
Saint Ledger) family is an old
Anglo-
Irish family with
Norman roots, whose name has appeared a few times in history.
The family can trace it origin back to Robertus de Villapari vel. de Sancto Leodegario (also known as Sir Robert de Saint Leger), reputedly a Norman
Knight who arrived in
Britain as part of the
Norman conquest of
1066.
The name can be spelt
St. Leger or
St. Ledger, or the St. can be dropped altogether. "St." is an abbreviation of
Saint, and the whole name is an anglicized version of "de Sancto Leodegario". Branches of the family have dropped the Saint part of the name, some partly for religious reasons during the
reformation as the name is perceived as strongly
Catholic.
St Legers of notable historical interest include:
*
Anthony St. Leger (Lord Deputy of
Ireland) - (b.
1496 - d.
1559)
*Sir John St. Leger of Annery (Knight, and Land owner) - (b.
1515-
1525 - d.
1593)
*
Sir William St. Leger - (b.
1586 d.
1642)
*
Anthony St. Leger (soldier, British
MP and founder of the
St. Leger Stakes) - (b.
1731 - d.
1786)
*
Colonel Barry St. Leger (British Colonel involved in the
United States Revolutionary War) - (b.
1737 - d.
1789)
*
Moya Frenz St. Leger (Journalist, and Author) - (b. 1938)
*
Dr Anthony St. Leger (Epidemiologist) - (b.
1945)
For more information on the St Leger family, see also:
* "St. Leger The Family and the Race" by Moya Frenz St. Leger, 1986 ISBN 0-85033-588-4
Moya Frenz St Leger reverted to her maiden name "Moya St Leger" 12 years ago.
"St Leger the Family and the Race" first published by Phillimore in 1986 was reprinted in 2004.
