Leonard Calvert
Leonard Calvert | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| 1st Proprietary-Governor of Maryland | |
| In office 1634–1647 | |
| Preceded by | Inaugural holder |
| Succeeded by | Th s Greene |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1606 England |
| Died | June 9, 1647 (aged 40–41) Maryland Colony |
| Children | William[1] Anne |
| Parent(s) | George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (father) and Anne Mynne (mother) |
| Occupation | placeman, planter |
| Signature | .png) |
Leonard Calvert (1606 – June 9, 1647) was the first
Early life
Leonard was born to George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore and his wife Anne Mynne, and was named in honor of his paternal grandfather, Leonard Calvert of Yorkshire.[3][4]
Colonisation of Newfoundland
In 1625, when Calvert's father was created Lord Baltimore and received
Leonard Calvert accompanied his father to the new colony of Newfoundland in 1628. The colony ultimately failed due to disease, extreme cold, and attacks by the French, and the family returned to England. After a few years, Baltimore declared Avalon a failure and traveled to the Colony of Virginia, where he found the climate much more suitable and temperate, but was met with an unwelcome reception from the Virginians' government and ruling class.[4]
Establishment of Maryland
In 1632, Baltimore returned to England, where he negotiated an additional patent for the colony of Maryland from King Charles I. However, before the papers could be executed, Baltimore died on April 15, 1632.[4]
On June 20, 1632, Cecil, the second Lord Baltimore, received from the king the charter for the colony of Maryland that his father had negotiated. The charter consisted of 23 sections, but the most important conferred on Lord Baltimore and his heirs, besides the right of absolute ownership in the soil, certain powers, ecclesiastical as well as civil, resembling those possessed by the nobility of the Middle Ages. Leonard Calvert was appointed by his brother as the colony's first governor.[4]
The Ark and The Dove
Two vessels,
Governor of Maryland
Following his brother's instructions, Leonard Calvert at first attempted to govern the country in an
In 1638, Calvert seized a trading post at
Leonard Calvert died of an illness in the summer of 1647. Before he died, he wrote a will naming Margaret Brent (the sister of Giles and a future, historically famous planter, lawyer, and female advocate for women's rights) as the executor of his estate. Calvert also named his friend and fellow passenger aboard The Ark and The Dove, Thomas Greene, as his successor to the governorship.
In 1890, the State of Maryland erected an obelisk monument to Calvert and his wife at Historic St. Mary's City which had a historical district created to commemorate the colonial origins of the colony.
Leonard Calvert's lost grave
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The location of Leonard Calvert's grave has been lost to history, but there is an effort[by whom?][when?] underway to find it. Archeologists[who?] based in the Historic St. Mary's City research complex believe[citation needed] that Leonard Calvert is buried somewhere in St. Inigoes, Maryland. The most likely spot[according to whom?] has been narrowed down to somewhere on Webster Field, now a small U.S. Naval Aircraft facility located on the water on the Western side of St. Inigoes. Several archeological digs[by whom?] have been conducted[when?] but the supposed grave has not been discovered.
Members of the Calvert family in the settlement were known[by whom?] to be buried in lead coffins. It is not known[by whom?] if this is how Leonard Calvert was buried. His death, due to disease, happened suddenly and unexpectedly after a period of religious warfare had wracked the colony. Soon after his death, one of the first laws requiring religious tolerance was written and enacted in the colony, further codifying its original proprietarial mandate of religious tolerance and reestablishing peace.
See also
References
- ^ Nicklin, John Bailey Calvert (1930). "Descendants of Francis Calvert". Maryland Historical Magazine. 25 (1): 31.
- ^ a b "Leonard Calvert MSA SC 3520-198". Maryland State Archives. March 7, 2003.
- ^ Krugler, John (2004). English and Catholic: The Lords Baltimore in the Seventeenth Century. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 28.
- ^ a b c d Sparks, Jared (1846). The Library of American Biography: George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown. pp. 16–.
Leonard Calvert.
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936.
External links
