List of Speakers of the New York General Assembly


The Speaker of the New York General Assembly was the highest official in the New York General Assembly, the first representative governing body in New York from 1683 to 1775 when the assembly disbanded after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.
As in most countries with a British heritage, the speaker presides over the lower house of the legislature and was elected from within the ranks of the General Assembly.

New York General Assembly

The New York General Assembly was first convened on October 14, 1683 during the governorship of Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick, which passed an act entitled "A Charter of Liberties" that decreed that the supreme legislative power under the Duke of York shall reside in a governor, council, and the people convened in general assembly; conferred upon the members of the assembly rights and privileges making them a body coequal to and independent of the British Parliament; established town, county, and general courts of justice; solemnly proclaimed the right of religious liberty; and passed acts enunciating certain constitutional liberties, e.g. taxes could be levied only by the people met in general assembly; right of suffrage; and no martial law or quartering of the soldiers without the consent of the inhabitants.
The General Assembly elected a Speaker from their own ranks, chose their own clerk, and published their own journal.

List of Speakers

The following were elected from the General Assembly to serve as Speaker of the Assembly.
SpeakerDistrictTook officeLeft officeNotes
James GrahamNew York CountyApril 9, 1691
October 26, 1692
September 3, 1693		September 13, 1692
July 27, 1693
November 16, 1693		Three terms
Henry PiersonSuffolk CountyMarch 2, 1694April 20, 1695
James GrahamNew York CountyJune 20, 1695April 2, 1698
Philip FrenchNew York CountyMay 19, 1698June 14, 1698
James GrahamNew York CountyMarch 2, 1699May 15, 1699
Abraham GouverneurNew York CountyMay 15, 1699
August 19, 1701		June 1, 1701
May 3, 1702
William NicollSuffolk CountyOctober 20, 1702
June 7, 1705
August 18, 1708
April 5, 1709
September 1, 1710
July 2, 1711
May 27, 1713
May 3, 1715
June 5, 1716		November 6, 1704
May 5, 1707
January 5, 1709
November 12, 1709
April 20, 1711
March 3, 1713
September 9, 1714
August 11, 1715
May 27, 1718		A son of 6th New York City mayor Matthias Nicoll.
Robert Livingston Jr.Livingston ManorMay 27, 1718July 24, 1724
Adolph PhilipseNew York CountyAugust 6, 1725
September 27, 1726
September 30, 1727
July 28, 1728		August 10, 1726
August 21, 1727
November 25, 1727
May 30, 1737
Lewis Morris Jr.Westchester CountyJune 15, 1737October 20, 1738Father of Lewis Morris
Adolph PhilipseNew York CountyMarch 27, 1739
November 8, 1743		December 27, 1743
May 14, 1745
David JonesQueens CountyJune 25, 1745
February 12, 1747
September 4, 1750
October 24, 1752		November 25, 1747
July 20, 1750
November 25, 1751
December 17, 1758
William NicollSuffolk CountyJanuary 31, 1759
March 10, 1761		March 2, 1761
February 6, 1768
Philip LivingstonNew York CountyOctober 27, 1768January 2, 1769
John CrugerNew York CountyApril 4, 1769April 8, 1775