Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore
Encyclopedia
Proprietary Governor
Proprietary Governors were individuals authorized to govern proprietary colonies. Under the proprietary system, individuals or companies were granted commercial charters by the King of England to establish colonies. These proprietors then selected the governors and other officials in the colony....
of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
(21 March 1679 – 16 April 1715) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
nobleman and politician. He was the second son of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, 2nd Proprietor and 6th and 9th Proprietary Governor of Maryland , inherited the colony in 1675 upon the death of his father, Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. He had been his father's Deputy Governor since 1661 when he arrived in the colony at the age of 24...
(1637–1715) by Jane Lowe. He became his father's heir upon the death of his elder brother, Cecil in 1681. Calvert's father had lost title to the Province of Maryland due to the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
in 1688. Benedict Calvert attempted to have his family's title to Maryland restored by renouncing Roman Catholicism and joining the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. In February 1715 Benedict became the 4th Baron Baltimore upon the death of his father, and he immediately petitioned King George I for the restoration of Maryland to his control. However, before the King could rule on the petition, Baltimore died aged 36, outliving his father by just two months. Shortly afterwards the King restored the title to Maryland to Calvert's young son Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...
.
Early life and the loss of Maryland
Benedict Leonard Calvert served as Governor of MarylandGovernor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...
on behalf of his father from 1684 to 1688. Since he was just 5 years old at the time, this appointment was a purely honorary one, with the real work of governorship being carried out by his deputy, Henry Darnall
Henry Darnall
Colonel Henry Darnall , was a wealthy Maryland Roman Catholic planter, the Proprietary Agent of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore . He served as Deputy Governor in Maryland. During the Protestant Revolution of 1689, his proprietarial army was defeated by the Puritan army of Colonel John Coode,...
. However, the events following the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
in England 1688 would cost the Roman Catholic Calvert's their rule in Maryland, which in 1688 became a Royal Colony.
Like his father, Benedict Leonard Calvert's Catholicism would cause him political difficulties. As a young man he served as a cavalry officer in the regiment of Lord Salisbury, but was outlawed by the new Protestant regime. His name was entered at Gray's Inn in 1690, but again his religion proved an impediment to his career.
Calvert was elected to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Harwich
Harwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Harwich was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until its abolition for the 2010 general election it elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
from 1714 to 1715, though he was not listed in any division lists, and was not an active member.
Religion and the Restoration of Maryland to Calvert control
Benedict Leonard Calvert calculated that the chief impediment to the restoration of his family's title to Maryland was the question of religion. Accordingly, he converted to AnglicanismAnglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
in 1713, deciding to "embrace the protestant religion", and gambling that this move would win back his family's lost fortune in the New World. Such a bold move would come at a cost. Benedict Leonard's devoutly Catholic father Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, 2nd Proprietor and 6th and 9th Proprietary Governor of Maryland , inherited the colony in 1675 upon the death of his father, Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. He had been his father's Deputy Governor since 1661 when he arrived in the colony at the age of 24...
, furious at his son's apostacy, withdrew his son's annual allowance of £450 and ended his support for his grandchildren's education and maintenance. Fortunately Benedict Leonard was able to persuade the Crown to grant him an allowance of £300 a year, and Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
even acceded to his nomination of John Hart
John Hart (Governor of Maryland)
John Hart served as the 12th Royal Governor of Maryland from 1714–1715 and continued as the 12th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1715–1720, after the restoration of proprietary control to Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore...
as governor of the province, on condition that Hart would share with Calvert £500 per annum out of his profits from the office. Queen Anne died on 1 August 1714, leaving the Calverts with a new king and a new court to persuade of the merits of their family's claim to Maryland.
Petition to George I
On February 2, 1715 Calvert reaffirmed his devotion to the Anglican faith and proclaimed his loyalty to the new king George IGeorge I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
. Two weeks later the old Lord Baltimore died, aged 78, and Benedict Leonard succeeded him to become the 4th Baron Baltimore, immediately petitioning King George I for the restoration of Maryland to his control. However, before the King could rule on the petition, Baltimore himself died, outliving his father by just two months. Shortly afterwards, on May 15, 1715, the King restored the title to Maryland to Benedict Leonard's son, the fifteen year old 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...
.
Family
On 2 January 1699 Benedict Leonard Calvert married the twenty year old Lady Charlotte LeeCharlotte Lee, Lady Baltimore
Charlotte Lee, Lady Baltimore , was an English noblewoman, being the granddaughter of King Charles II of England and his mistress Barbara Villiers. She married firstly in 1699, Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, from whom she separated in 1705; and later she married Christopher Crowe...
, daughter of the 1st Earl of Lichfield
Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield
Sir Edward Henry Lee, 5th Baronet, of Ditchley and of Quarendon, created 1st Earl of Lichfield was an English peer. He was a staunch tory and followed James II to Rochester, Kent after the king's escape from Whitehall in December 1688...
and Lady Charlotte FitzRoy
Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield
Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield , formerly Lady Charlotte Fitzroy, was the illegitimate daughter of King Charles II of England by one of his most notorious mistresses, Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland-Family:She was the fourth child and second daughter of Barbara Palmer née Villiers,...
. Charlotte Fitzroy was the illegitimate daughter of King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
.
The union was not a happy one, and the couple separated in 1705. In 1711 Calvert petitioned for a divorce from his wife on the grounds of her "open adultery", but the petition was unsuccessful and the divorce was not granted.
The couple had seven children, including:
- Charles Calvert, 5th Baron BaltimoreCharles Calvert, 5th Baron BaltimoreCharles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...
, 18th Proprietor Governor of MarylandProvince of MarylandThe Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
(29 September 1699 – 24 April 1751), married Mary Janssen, daughter of Sir Theodore Janssen, 1st Baronet Janssen and Williamsa Henley. - Hon. Benedict Leonard CalvertBenedict Leonard CalvertThe Hon. Benedict Leonard Calvert was the 15th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1727 through 1731, appointed by his older brother, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore . He was named after his father, Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore...
(1700–1732), Governor of the Maryland colony from 1727 through 1731, appointed by his brother, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. His health was poor and he died of tuberculosisTuberculosisTuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
on 1 June 1732 on his passage home to England. - Hon. Edward Henry Calvert (b. ca. 1700), held office of Commissary General and President of the Council of Maryland. Married but had no children.
- Hon. Charlotte Calvert (born 1702, died December 1744), married Thomas Brerewood, by whom she had a son, Francis Brerewood. (Her father-in-law Thomas BrerewoodThomas BrerewoodThomas Brerewood , was a 'Gentleman Entrepreneur & Fraudster'. He was deeply involved in the "Pitkin Affair" of 1705, a bankruptcy fraud that was only surpassed in scale by the South Sea Bubble of 1720...
owned My Lady's Manor, in Maryland.( - Hon. Jane Calvert (died July 1778), married John Hyde (1695–1746), by whom she had issue: Philip Hyde; John Hyde; Henry Hyde; Captain Frederick Hyde; Samuel Hyde; Mary Calvert Hyde, wife of George Mitchell and mother of George Calvert Mitchell, 1st Earl of Royalton; Catherine Hyde, wife of Rev. Thomas Willis; Jane Hyde, wife of Walter Joyce; and Charlotte Hyde, wife of David Grahame.
- Hon. Cecil Calvert (born 1702, died 1765)
- Hon. Anne Calvert
Trivia
His great-granddaughter Eleanor Calvert CustisEleanor Calvert
Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart was a prominent member of the Calvert family of Maryland. Upon her marriage to John Parke Custis, she became the daughter-in-law of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington and the stepdaughter-in-law of George Washington...
was the grandmother of Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee the wife of Robert Edward Lee of the Lee family
Lee family
The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia and Maryland political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. Through the past few hundred years it was believed that Colonel Richard Lee of Virginia descended...
of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The 1st Earl of Litchfield was a descendant of Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley
Henry Lee of Ditchley
Sir Henry Lee KG , of Ditchley, was Master of the Ordnance under Queen Elizabeth I of England.-Life:Lee became Queen Elizabeth I’s champion in 1570 and was appointed Master of the Royal Armouries in 1580, an office which he held until his death...
.
Legacy
Benedict Leonard Calvert had arranged for his son Charles to be raised a Protestant, and in 1721 the young Charles came of age and assumed control of the colony of Maryland, which would remain under the control of the Calvert family until 1776. However, Charles Calvert would, like his father, have to embrace the Anglican faith in order to retain authority over his family's province. The Calvert family's dream of a haven in the Americas for Roman Catholics was at an end, and it would take an American RevolutionAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and the overthrow of the Calvert proprietary government to restore religious tolerance to Maryland.
Benedict Leonard Calvert's portrait, along with those of the other Barons Baltimore, still hangs today in the Enoch Pratt Free Library
Enoch Pratt Free Library
The Enoch Pratt Free Library, located in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the oldest free public libraries in the United States. Established in 1882 after a grant from philanthropist Enoch Pratt, the library now includes twenty-two branches in Baltimore, plus the Central Library...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, the city that bears his family name.
See also
- Baron BaltimoreBaron BaltimoreBaron Baltimore, of Baltimore Manor in County Longford, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1625 for George Calvert and became extinct on the death of the sixth Baron in 1771. The title was held by several members of the Calvert family who were proprietors of the palatinates...
- List of colonial governors of Maryland
- Province of MarylandProvince of MarylandThe Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
- Proprietary colonyProprietary colonyA proprietary colony was a colony in which one or more individuals, usually land owners, remaining subject to their parent state's sanctions, retained rights that are today regarded as the privilege of the state, and in all cases eventually became so....
External links
- Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, at www.thepeerage.com Retrieved Jan 23 2010
- Benedict Calvert at www.sonofthesouth.net Retrieved January 30, 2010