de Ligne coat of arms on a monument to George de Ligne Gregory in the lady chapel of St Mary & St Peter's church, Harlaxton.
"1619 -
Daniel de Ligne (d. 1658), Flemish refugee from religious persecution, purchases Harlaxton for £8,000. He is later knighted by James I and serves as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire.
1730 -
Last of direct De Ligne descendants, Daniel de Ligne, dies (1666-1730). Estate passes to Anne Orton (1713-1785), great- great-grandaughter of Sir Daniel de Ligne.
1738 -
George Gregory (1697-1758) marries Anne Orton and becomes lord of the manor. They have four sons: George (taking the name George de Ligne Gregory, 1740-1822), William (taking the name William Gregory Williams, 1742-1814), Edward (1743-1824) and Daniel (1747-1819)."
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"Ligne is one of the oldest Belgian noble families, dating back to the eleventh century. The family's name comes from the village in which it originated, between Ath and Tournai.
The lords of Ligne belonged to the entourage of the Count of Hainaut at the time of the Crusades. With the battle of Bouvines in 1214, they were described as "great name and men of honour" by the chroniclers of the time.
Their progressive rise in the nobility began as barons in the twelfth century, counts of Fauquemberg and princes of Épinoy in the sixteenth century, then princes of Amblise in 1608. The family became Imperial counts on 18 December 1544, then Lamoral I received from Emperor Rudolf II the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire as Prince de Ligne on 20 March 1601, for all of his agnatic descendants, both male and female.
Compensation for loss of the Imperial County of Ligne (Fagnolles, since that barony had become seat of the county in 1789) as a result of the Peace of Lunéville consisted of substitution of the secularized Imperial abbey of Edelstetten, with an individual vote guaranteed in the Imperial College of Princes in 1803. That principality was, however, sold to Prince Nikolaus Esterházy on 22 May 1804, before the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire, of which Edelstetten had been a constituent Imperial state, in 1806.
The style of Highness was confirmed for all members of extant branches of the family on 31 May 1923, and the titles of Prince d'Amblise and Prince d'Epinoy recognized for the head of the house on 22 October of the same year by the Belgian Crown.
There have been cadet branches of this house: Barbançon, Barbançon-Arenberg, Moy, Ham and Arenberg, La Trémoïlle. "
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"St Mary and St Peter's Church is a Grade I listed Church of England parish church dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Peter in Harlaxton, Lincolnshire, England. The church is situated 2 miles (3 km) south-east from Grantham, and at the eastern edge of the Vale of Belvoir in South Kesteven. It is noted in particular for its association with and memorials to the Harlaxton Manor Gregory and de Ligne families, c.1410 effigies of Sir Richard Rickhill and his wife, Elizabeth, and the church's 19th-century restoration by John Oldrid Scott. According to English Heritage, between 1174 and 1185 land at Harlaxton to build a church was provided by William the Conqueror's grand daughter Matilda. By 1535 Harlaxton held one of the nine chantries within the deanery of Grantham. The present church structure dates, in parts, from the late 12th century, with later additions and alterations in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.
The church is within the Harlaxton village conservation area. It is in the ecclesiastical parish of Harlaxton, and is part of the Harlaxton Group of Parishes in the Deanery of Loveden and the Diocese of Lincoln. Other churches in the same group are St Andrew's, Denton; All Saints', Stroxton; St James', Woolsthorpe; and St Catherine's, Wyville."
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