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Here are some Long stories and accounts over the years:

The Long Lineage in Wiltshire


The Longs have been a continuing force in Wiltshire life from the 14th century.  There have been two main lines, the thirteen generations of Longs who held the South Wraxall and Draycot estates until the early 19th century and the related Long descendants of the banker and politician Richard Godolphin Long.

The Earlier Longs

1.
 Roger le Long of Wiltshire

2.
 Robert Long
 c.1391-1447
 first to own the South Wraxall and Draycot estates
3.
 Henry Long
 c.1417-1490
 son of Robert
4.
 Sir Thomas Long
 c.1451-1509
 nephew of Henry
5.
 Sir Henry Long
 c.1489-c.1556
 eldest son of Sir Thomas

Sir Richard Long
 c.1495-1546
 third son of Sir Thomas
6.
 Sir Robert Long
 c.1517-c.1581
 eldest son of Sir Henry
7.
 Sir Walter Long
 c.1565-1610
 eldest son of Sir Robert

Henry Long
 c.1570-1594
 younger son murdered in feud
8.
 Sir Walter Long
 c.1594-1637
 eldest son of Sir Walter

Sir Robert Long
 c.1600-1673
 younger son of Sir Walter, 1st baronet
9.
 Sir James Long
 c.1617-1682
 son of Sir Walter, 2nd baronet
10.
 James Long

11.
 Sir James Long
 1681-1729
 son of James, 5th baronet
12.
 Sir Robert Long
 1705-1767
 son of Sir James, 6th baronet
13.
 Sir James Tylney-Long
 1736-1794
 son of Sir Robert, 7th baronet
14.
 James Tylney-Long
 1794-1805
 son of Sir James

The Later Longs

1.
 Richard G. Long
 1761-1835
banker and politician
2.
 Walter Long
 1793-1867
 son of Richard
3.
 Richard P. Long      
1825-1875
 son of Walter
4.
 Walter H. Long
 1854-1924
 eldest son of Richard, 1st viscount

Richard Long
 1856-1938
 younger son of Richard, Baron Gisborough
5.
 Walter Long
 1879-1917
 brigadier general in WW One
6.
 Walter Long
 1911-1944
 son of Walter, 2nd viscount

Richard Long
 1892-1967
 uncle of Walter, 3rd viscount


The Long and Danvers Feud

The Longs and Danvers were neighbors in Wiltshire - and neighbors as well.  Some thought that their feud had dated as far back as the Wars of the Roses.  Others saw it as a challenge by the Longs to the Danvers' more established position.  Sir Charles Danvers had developed a close friendship with Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.  On the other hand, Sir Walter Long was close to Sir Walter Raleigh who was deeply hostile to Essex.

The mutual animosity came to a head in 1594 when Sir John Danvers from the magistrate's bench committed one of Sir Walter Long's servants for robbery.  Sir Walter rescued the servant so Sir John had Sir Walter locked up in the Fleet prison.  He then committed another of Sir Walter's servants for murder.  On leaving prison, Sir Walter and his younger brother Henry provoked various brawls between their own followers and Sir John's, resulting in one servant being killed and another being grievously wounded.


Henry then wrote insulting letters to Sir Charles Danvers, calling him a liar, a fool,  a puppy dog, a mere boy, and promised that he would whip his bare backside with a rod.  This made Sir Charles very angry. Accompanied by his brother and some of his men, he went to an inn at Corsham where Sir Walter and Henry Long were dining with a group of magistrates.  Sir Henry Danvers drew his pistol and shortly afterwards Henry Long was dead.  


The Longs of St. Mary's Church in Newton Flotman


For a hundred and fifty years, from 1797 to 1948, the rectors of the Norfolk village church of St. Mary's in Newton Flotman were all of one family.  In 1721 Matthew Long of Dunston Hall had acquired the patronage of the living and this remained with the Long family until 1948.  Sarah Long, the patron in 1790, was the unmarried heir of the estate and she appointed the Rev. Robert Churchman Kellett on condition that he assumed the Long name.  It took him seven years to do so!

The church's pulpit had been given by Miss Alma Long in memory of her brother Octavius Nevill Long who had died in 1890 at the age of twenty nine.  The font cover was given by the Rev. W.N. Long who was the rector from 1917 to 1948, the wood used coming from oaks grown on the Dunston estate.


Mount Long and the Cork Catholic Rebellion of 1641

John Long of Mount Long was made high sheriff of county Cork in 1641.  But later that year an uprising broke out against the Protestants in the area.  John Long and his sons John and James, who were considered the rebellious arm of the family, formed a military camp with their fellow Catholic rebels on a hill a few miles away at Belgooly.  They were, however, defeated the following year by Lord Baltinglass.

John Long's daughter followed her father's final orders and set fire to Mount Long to deny Cromwell the house.  The burnt ruin of Mount Long and the surrounding lands were confiscated and given to one of Cromwell's soldiers named Giles Busteed.  In 1652 John Long was convicted of treason and sentenced to death.  He was hung on January 1653 on Cromwell's orders with thirty four other rebels.

According to local tradition the ancient burial ground at Teampuileen by Mount Long was to be avoided after dark.  A local farmer tried to remove a wall surrounding the graves but failed in his aim.  He saw "something" and fled the area, never to return.


Longs and Langs and Laings in Scotland

The following were the number of Longs, Langs, and Laings recorded in the 1901 Scottish census:

Surname
 Numbers
 Percent
Long
     321
    4
Lang
   3,203
   36
Laing                    
  5,229
   60

 


Longs in America by Place of Origin

Country
 Numbers
 Percent
Ireland
   1,354
    50
England and Scotland
   1,044
    38
German-speaking
     319
    12


Edward Long's The History of Jamaica


Edward Long was born in England, a member of a family that had long been settled in Jamaica and owned plantations there.  Long himself spent only twelve years in Jamaica, where he was a judge, a member of the House of Assembly, and for a very brief period its Speaker.  But he always identified himself with the interests of the Jamaican plantocracy, that is, the group of white landowners whose prosperity depended on the ownership of sugar plantations worked by slaves.

Long's major work was The History of Jamaica, written in 1774.  This contains an enormous amount of information on all aspects of the island and is still an essential source for historians of the Caribbean. However, the work is strongly marked by his partisan support for the plantocracy, which leads him not only to emphasize Jamaica's importance to Britain but to assert the plantocracy's right to rule Jamaica in their own interest.

Long took racist justifications of slavery to new extremes by manipulating contemporary scientific developments to claim that black people differed ‘from other men not in kind, but in species.’  Any evidence that appeared to contradict his argument that black people were naturally inferior to whites Long did his best to explain away.

Even in his own time there were those who found him deeply offensive and his claims were rejected by many writers.  Nevertheless, The History of Jamaica was widely read and had considerable influence on the development of racist ideologies well into the 19th century.



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