of Rev. Richard Levett of Ashwell, Rutland, and the family's roots lay in Sussex. The Levett brothers's accomplishments as merchants allowed them to indulge their wants in ways unfamiliar to vicars' sons. These early London merchants were straddling the old feudal economy which, abetted by increasing English political and military might, was evolving into a modern trading one. The first beneficiaries were these pioneers who, trading for their own account, risked failure in the fast-moving marketplace. The Levett brothers built an early trading juggernaut. In 1683 Francis Levett married Susan, the daughter of Sir Thomas Holt and sister of Sir John Holt, Lord Chief Justice of England. Levett's brother-in-law was merchant Edward Leman, who married Sir Thomas Holt's daughter Mary by his wife Susan Peacock. The London mercantile world of those days was a small club: Lord Mayor Levett, Francis's brother, had a son Richard, who became a London alderman and married the daughter of Sir John Sweetapple, goldsmith, Sheriff and alderman of the City. These tight social and political connections helped the Levetts build their trading empire. Francis Levett's son Richard, a member of Oriel College, Oxford, and a barrister at the Inner Temple, served as an Alderman of London. He was later buried within Temple Church. Another son, Henry, who took B.A. and M.A. degrees from Magdalen College, Oxford, died at age 25 in 1726. A third son, Francis Levett Jr., lived much of his life at Livorno, Italy, and served as chief representative of the Levant Company at Constantinople 1737–1750. He was a director of the London Assurance Corporation, and a benefactor of Morden College. He lived much of his life at Livorno, and died at Nethersole, Kent, 21 February 1764. Catherine, the daughter of Francis Levett, London merchant, married Ebenezer Ibbetson, a London merchant and son of Leeds, Yorkshire, cloth merchant Samuel Ibbetson. Their descendant Levett Landon Boscawen Ibbetson was a well-known English geologist, inventor and one of the pioneers of photography. At Francis Levett's death in 1705, his widow disposed of his interest in several ships, selling them to William Love, a London merchant. References Merchants from London Francis 1654 births 1705 deaths