Catalog the graveyards, cull the archives, consult the Colonial Dames, but you’ll not find a Carolinian worthier of your ancestral tree than that High-Church Anglican, Tory jurist Edmund Bohun. This 17th century English scholar-turned- Hobbesian philosopher came to Charles Town in 1698 bearing the Proprietors’ Commission as Carolina’s first chief justice.

Though Bohun survived only a year here before succumbing to illness, his daughters married into prominent Lowcountry families thereby securing Charlestonians forever with English bluebloods.

Whoever started this ballyhoo about aristocratic bloodlines in America, anyway? Aren’t we the ones celebrated in Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare For The Common Man”? Poring over ancestry is essentially an English manifestation of our colonial culture. All the fuss probably began with some families being listed in the Domesday Book whereas others were not.

Regrettably, Charleston doesn’t have a branch of deBrett’s Peerage to certify genealogy and record family crests, so any Carolinians claiming descent from Edmund Bohun must content themselves with a smug feeling of inclusion with hundreds of old names in musty history books.

The bloodline of Edmund Bohun intrigues the pedigree hounds at deBrett’s quite a bit - for through the Bohuns came much of Old Charleston’s connection to royalty and aristocracy in England and Europe. Our reputation as America’s most aristocratic city was a logical outgrowth of its being the residence of highborn men such as Bohun.

 Five-hundred years prior to Edmund Bohun sailing to Charles Town, his ancestor, Henry de Bohun (d.1220 A.D.), crossed the English Channel at the side of William the Conquerer. The de Bohuns were knights of Normandy and were at the side of William throughout his conquest of Saxon England.

For his loyalty, William made Henry de Bohun the 1st Earl of Hereford. For centuries to come the de Bohuns lived regally from feudal rents on their holdings in Normandy and England.

The daughter of de Bohun married into the Stuart dynasty of Scotland, and his sister married the Duke of Brittany. Also, Henry was one of the knights who forced King John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215.

For that brash act against one of the guardians of the faith, de Bohun received an excommunication bull from Pope Innocent III. Sometime during the Tudor dynasty the prefix “de” was dropped from the name.

The Bohuns never allowed a good marriage opportunity to slip past them.

They married for land, power, and preferment at the court of kings. Bohuns were tucked away in the family line of deVere, de Sayes, and one Humphrey de Bohun married the daughter of King Edward “Longshanks” I, of England.

Since Bohuns were related to kings, they were trusted emissaries sent on secret missions to the Continent and Rome. Early on, the Bohun men broke with the idea that aristocrats avoided the university as an unnecessary nuisance. Both Oxford and Cambridge boast of Bohuns for four centuries. Edmund Bohun was the greatest man of letters to enter Carolina when he arrived in 1698 to deliver his commission to Governor James Blake.

While a student reading civil and canon law at Queens College, Cambridge, Edmund Bohun mastered the works of the prominent Dutch jurist, Hugo Grotius. Grotius produced heavy tomes in the field of international law, diplomacy, and maritime law. These areas of expertise gained Bohun recognition in the courts of London and played no small role in his getting the notice of the Earl of Shaftsbury as his selection for Chief Justice of Carolina.

While a student at Cambridge de Bohun became acquainted with Samuel Pepys, the protégé of the Earl of Sandwich - a connection that made Pepys Secretary of the Admiralty for Charles II. Another boon companion at the University was William Sancroft, the future Archbishop of Canterbury.

These men’s lives would intertwine around the intrigues of church and crown for the ensuing 30 years.

The Bohuns were diplomats and, therefore, always able to change loyalties at just the right moment to advance their position at court. Bohun, true to his Tory convictions, almost fell from royal graces in 1688 during the so-called “Glorious Revolution.” He was a little reluctant to turn his back upon James II after the abdication -fearing that somehow, James might regain the throne and execute all who’d betrayed him.

However, Bohun did jump ship to become a supporter of William and Mary, and just in the nick of time. To cement his loyalty to William, Bohun authored a London “bestseller” detailing the last days in power of James II. King William took a liking to Bohun and gave him the additional title of Licenser of all books published in England. Bohun could censor anything he wished. Some political enemies set a trap for him by proposing a book equating William’s arbitrary use of power as tyrannical - a similar theme to one cited by Bohun himself in his History of the Desertion of King James II.

In the political wrangling, Whigs lashed out at Bohun and Tories defended him.

In the tempest of broadsheets then circulating in London coffeehouses, this was the first great “newspaper war of words.” Bohun savaged arch Whig Algernon Sydney in a particularly sharp essay. Archbishop of Canterbury William Sancroft weighed in on the side of Bohun. Even the King’s courtiers lined up with the Bohun-Tory faction. In the heat of this infighting, Edmund Bohun accepted a welcomed offer to come out to Carolina.

Charles Town at the time of Bohun was a jewel of a town that held great promise for the English crown. Already prosperous, the fledgling seaport was partially walled and heavily fortified. Dozens of warships and merchant ships rode at anchor. Maintaining the rule of law, the authority of the Anglican Church, and the dignity of the Crown was the charge of Edmund Bohun in 1698.

Imagine the excitement that ran along the waterfront as word spread that the Chief Justice would be coming ashore. Guns would have boomed a welcome of this man who was a friend of philosopher Thomas Hobbes and an intimate of kings.

Huge flags would have flown from every garrison, as well as all of the ships riding anchor. Imagine the attention that the gentlemen bachelors showed the three daughters of the London aristocrat, Edmund Bohun.

We know that Margaret Bellenger married Edmund’s son, Nicholas, and that their daughter married Burnaby Bull. From there it’s a merry chase of prominent betrothals down through today.

(Dr. Thomas B. Horton is a history teacher at Porter-Gaud School. He lives in the Old Village of Mount Pleasant. Visit his Web site online at www.historyslostmoments.com).