The LeClaire Family Historical Archive

Summary

This archive documents more than six hundred years of continuous, evidenced family history, from Mengin Le Clerc of Lorraine, first attested in 1355, to the present House of Greenland-LeClaire. It is maintained by Brandon Noble LeClaire, present custodian of the House, and sets out the family's documented genealogy, heraldry, sources and correction process in one place.

Custodianship

The archive is maintained by Brandon Noble LeClaire, present custodian of the House of LeClaire. As custodian, he is responsible for the accuracy of the record, for extending it as further evidence comes to light, and for weighing corrections and additions submitted by family members and researchers.

Purpose of the Archive

The Archive exists to make every documented person, family, location, coat of arms and historical event associated with the House of LeClaire discoverable in a single, consistent, well-sourced record, for family members, historians and researchers alike. The History of the House of LeClaire is the master record from which every other page draws its facts, and the People index gives a profile to every documented individual in the line.

How Evidence Is Evaluated

Every documented fact in this archive is drawn from parish records, civil registration, notarial acts, land transactions, letters patent, heraldic sources and published genealogies, and is graded according to the evidence-grading scheme described in full on Sources and Research Methodology. Documented fact is distinguished throughout from the interpretative historical context that explains the world in which the family lived; the two are never presented as carrying equal evidential weight.

Corrections

Corrections and additional documentary evidence are welcomed from family members, archivists and researchers. Each is assessed against the classes of evidence set out on the Sources and Research Methodology page, and accepted corrections are applied first to the History page before being carried through to every dependent profile and record.

What You Will Find Here

• Interactive family tree tracing the principal line.
• Biographical profiles for every documented ancestor.
• Family branches — Le Clerc, LeClaire, Van der Vyvere, Greenland and allied houses.
• Coats of arms, blazons and heraldic history.
• Historical locations connected to the family.
• History of the House of LeClaire, the master record of the family's documented and reconstructed ancestry.
• Sources and Research Methodology, the classes of evidence and evidence-grading scheme used throughout the archive.