Sir Edmund was appointed the 1st Baron Landgrave (equivalent of Earl) May 7, 1698.

He emigrated to the Americas in 1674 settling on James Island, Carolina, British America.

August 16, 1697 appointed to commanded HMS Blake.

April 1, 1698 appointed 'Surveyor General' for the two Carolinas.

August 1700 appointed 'Receiver of Land Rents'.

Edmund married Elizabeth Cartwright of England.∼Edmund BELLINGER was the First Landgrave of Tombodly and Ashepoo Baronies in South Carolina, which were established in 1698. The Ashepoo Barony was granted on December 12, 1702 to Landgrave Edmund BeLLINGER: these 6000 acres on the southwest side of the Ashepoo River in St. Bartholomew's Parish in Colleton County.

For information on these baronies, see Henry A. M. Smith's chapters "Ashepoo Barony, from Vol. XV (1914) 63-72" and "The Tomotley Barony, from Vol. XV (1914) 63-72" in The Baronies of South Carolina: Articles From The South Carolina Historical (and Genealogical) Magazine (Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Company, 1988).

Charles H. Lesser's South Carolina Begins[:] The Records of a Proprietary Colony, 1663-1721 (Columbia: South Carolina Department of Archives, 1995) 437 contains the following:

Edmund BELLINGER, a ship's captain from Westmoreland County, England, had been attorney general in the colony. He became a landgrave a month after he was commissioned surveyor general in March 1698. Bellinger would also serve as collector of customs and receiver and escheator.

According to these records Bellinger was commissioned as surveyor general on March 31, 1698 and served from 1698 until February 1703.

The following entry is from Agnes Leland Baldwin's First Settlers of South Carolina 1670-1700 (Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1985), p. 20:

BELLINGER, Edmund (Esquire, Landgrave, Captain, Commander, Lord Proprietors' Deputy) Arrived before 7 March 1689. Bellinger was commander of the ship Blake. His official positions were Surveyor General, Deputy Judge of the Admiralty, member of Commons House of Assembly, Receiver General, and "Deputy Governor" in 1699.

He was married to Sarah CARTWRIGHT.

The following Grant, dated 3 Jan. 1699, is recorded in Vol II 1740-1755, Books V--P-P of Clara A. Langley's South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772 (Easley: Southern Historical Press, 1984), p. 33: 'By warrant dated 1 Aug. 1699, signed by Gov. JOSEPH BLAKE, EDMUND BELLINGER, Sur. Gen., laid out for himself on 6 Aug. 1699, 1 lot on E side of Charleston at E end of Cooper Street (marked B on model); bounding N on the wharf before ELIZABETH CLAPP'S land; S on BENJAMIN SCHENCKINGH'S wharf; W on "the Front Street" parallel with Cooper River upon the line of wharfage laid out by commissioners; E on low water mark. Whereas JOHN, Earl of Bath, Palatine; GEORGE, Lord Carteret; SIR JOHN COLLETON, Baronet; THOMAS AMY, ESQ. & WILLIAM THORNBURY, ESQ., Lords Proprs., on 16 Aug. 1798 authorized Gov. JOSEPH BLAKE, Landgrave JOSEPH MORTON, ROBERT DANIEL, JAMES MOORE, EDMUND BELLINGER, & JOHN ELY, ESQRS., or any 3 of them, to sell & grant land; now they grant CAPT. EDMUND BELLINGER 1 front town lot (B); he to erect & keep in repair a sufficient part of stairs or common landing place 8-1/2 ft. wide, with bolts, rings & posts for common use. Signed by ROBERT DANIEL, JOSEPH (Great Seal) BLAKE, JOSEPH MORTON. ROBERT AUSTIN, Pub. Reg.'

The following is from Joseph Gaston Bulloch's A History and Genealogy of the Families of Bellinger and De Veaux and Other Families (Savannah: The Morning News Print, 1895), pp. 6-7: 'This ancient family of South Carolina is descended from the BELLINGHAMS of Bellingham, in Northumberland, in the days of William the Conqueror, and the BELLINGERS have kept their identity separate and distinct since 1475, when Walter BELLINGER was created Ireland King at Arms and granted the following coats-of-arms, "Argent, a Saltire en grailed sable, entre four roses, Gules, or [sic]. Captain Sir Edmund BELLINGER, of Westmoreland County, England, arrived in the Colony of Carolina and settled upon James Island in 1674. He was in the Royal Navy and Commanded the ship Blake, in August 16, 1697, and was appointed Surveyor General for the two Carolinas, April 1, 1698, and created Landgrave May 7th, 1698. He was also appointed Receiver of Land Rents August 14, 1700. He married about 1680, Sarah CARTWRIGHT, in England, and had the following children: [Thomas, Margaret, Edmund, John, Elizabeth, William, Lucia, and Ann]

The following entry for Edmund BELLINGER is in Walter B. EDGAR and N. Louise BAILERY, Biographical Dictionary of the South Carolina House of Representatives Volume II The Commons House of Assembly 1692-1775 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1977), pp. 72-73: 'BELLINGER, EDMUND (d. 1705?). Father of EDMUND BELLINGER (d. 1739); grandfather of EDMUND BELLINGER (1719-1787); GEORGE BELLINGER (1724-1755?), STEPHEN BULL (1716-1770), and WILLIAM PALMER; father-in-law of BURNABY BULL and JOHN PALMER (d. 1744?).'

Edmund BELLINGER, a ship's captain from Westmoreland County, England, settled in South Carolina by 1692, and in 1694 he was Attorney General of the province. He was a member of the Second Assembly (1695) and represented Berkeley and Craven in the Third Assembly (1696-1697). BELLINGER continued to follow the sea and in May 1696 he commanded the ship Blake bound for London. En route, the vessel was captured by the French and BELLINGER was taken to France. He was in England in 1698 and was instrumental in getting the number of the articles of the Fundamental Constitutions reduced. On 1 April 1698 he was appointed Surveyor General for the Carolinas and on 7 May 1698 was created a landgrave. By 1700 he was the deputy for Thomas AMY, Collector of Customs, and deputy judge of the Court of Admiralty. NICHOLAS TROTT and others accused Bellinger, Governor Joseph BLAKE, and JOSEPH MORTON of seizing and condemning vessels and then purchasing them at auction for a fraction of their value. The Lords of Trade dismissed the formal complaint against BELLINGER 29 May 1700. On 14 August 1700 he was named Receiver General of the Quit Rents. Among the other offices he held were commissioner, of pilotage (1694, 1702); commissioner, to make Sullivan's Island more remarkable to mariners (1700); commissioner, to hear complaints and appeals on tax assessments (1702); and commissioner, to repair fortifications (1702).

As a landgrave, BELLINGER was nominated 11 September 1700 to replace the deceased governor, Joseph BLAKE. JAMES MOORE and ROBERT DANIELL objected to BELLINGER's nomination on the grounds that he was a proprietor's deputy and held several offices. When the ballot was taken, BELLINGER received only a single vote. His being a dissenter and a "proprietor's man" had more to do with his defeat than the reasons advanced. He again fell victim to factional politics in 1703 following the withdrawal of the Colleton County delegation from the assembly. As a justice of the peace he attempted to quell the ensuing riot and in the process was caned by WILLIAM RHETT. BELLINGER supported the dissenters' sending JOHN ASH (d. 1704) to London to plead their cause.

Under his patent as landgrave, BELLINGER was entitled to 48,000 acres of land. Ashepoo Barony, a tract of 7,260 acres was run out on the Ashepoo River and, apparently, was the only portion of the acreage that he claimed under his patent. However, he did take grants for an additional 2,054 acres in Berkeley County and 1,290 in Colleton. These lands and the patent passed first to his eldest son Thomas, who died without issue, and then to Edmund. BELLINGER and Sarah Cartwright had six other children:

daughter, Margaret BELLINGER, md. Nicholas BOHUN;

son, John BELLINGER, - ;

daughter, Elizabeth BELLINGER, md. John PALMER [PAMOR];

son, William BELLINGER, - ;

Daughter, Lucia BELLINGER, - , md. Barnaby BULL;

daughter, Ann [Anne] BELLINGER, 1684-1723, buried Saint Philips Church Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, Find-A-Grave Memorial # 84937700; md. Richard FAIRCHILD, 1676-1721, buried Saint Philps Church Cemetery Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, Find-A-Grave Memorial # 84937764).

The First Landgrave Edmund BELLINGER died between 10 October 1705 when it is mentioned that he signed his will and 1 May 1708 when the Second Landgrave received two land grants.

He served on the Second Assembly as a member in 165, and on the Third Assembly, Berkeley and Craven Counties, 1696-1697.