John Jay was born in the colony of New York on December 12, 1745. Jay’s paternal great-grandfather, Pierre Jay, was a Huguenot who left France for England to avoid persecution. Jay’s paternal grandfather, Augustus, grew up in England but moved to the American colonies and became a successful import-export businessman. By the time John was born, John’s father, Peter, was rich, retired, and married to Mary Van Cortlandt, a member of a large and powerful Dutch banking and trade family. The Jays’ multinational origins and their focus on trade and comity for their livelihoods would be themes of John Jay’s long career.