Maryland Dove
Encyclopedia
The Maryland Dove is a re-creation of a late 17th-century trading ship. She was designed by the naval architect and naval historian William A. Baker
William A. Baker
William Avery Baker was a distinguished naval architect of replica historic ships and a maritime historian, who was curator of the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum at Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1963-1981.-Early life and education:The son of William Elisha Baker and his wife Margaret...

.

She is 76 feet overall with a displacement of 42 tons. She was built by James B. Richardson in a shipyard near Cambridge, Maryland
Cambridge, Maryland
Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 12,326 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality...

, and was launched in 1978. Her home port is St. Mary's City, Maryland
St. Mary's City, Maryland
St. Mary's City, in St. Mary's County, Maryland, is a small unincorporated community near the southernmost end of the state on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is located on the eastern shore of the St. Mary's River, a tributary of the Potomac. St. Mary's City is the fourth oldest...

. The ship is owned by the state of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 and operated and maintained by the Historic St. Mary's City Commission.

Historical note

The first expedition from England to the planned colony of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 was undertaken by Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland , was an English peer who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, the...

, and consisted of two ships that had formerly belonged to Baltimore's father, the Ark
The Ark (ship)
The Ark was a 17th century ship which carried passengers bound for the Maryland colony during the pioneering 1634 expedition. The settlers began a permanent settlement in a shared Indian village south of St. Clement's Island and named it St. Mary's...

and the Dove. The two ships departed Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...

 with 128 settlers on board and, after being chased down and brought back by the British navy so that the settlers could take an oath of allegiance to the King as required by law, sailed in October 1632 for the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

 to pick up more settlers. At the Isle of Wight they embarked two Jesuit priests and nearly two hundred more settlers before setting out across the Atlantic. Since he could not lead the expedition himself, Baltimore sent detailed instructions for the governance of the colony, including commands that his brothers seek any information about those who had tried to thwart the colony and make contact with Claiborne to determine his intentions for the trading station on Kent Island. The instructions also emphasized the importance of religious toleration among the colonists, who were nearly equal parts Catholic and Protestant. With these last instructions, the expedition sailed for the Americas.
The ships arrived at Point Comfort at the mouths of the James
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...

, Nansemond
Nansemond River
The Nansemond River is a tributary of the James River in the U.S. state of Virginia. The Nansemond River Bridge crosses the river near its mouth. Both it and the former State Route 125 bridge, demolished in 2008, were once toll bridges. The river begins at the outlet of Lake Meade north of...

, and Elizabeth River
Elizabeth River (Virginia)
The Elizabeth River is a tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States. It is located along the southern side of the mouth of the James River, between the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk...

s, in 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...

, February 24, 1634. On March 27, they landed at what is now St. Mary's
St. Mary's City, Maryland
St. Mary's City, in St. Mary's County, Maryland, is a small unincorporated community near the southernmost end of the state on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is located on the eastern shore of the St. Mary's River, a tributary of the Potomac. St. Mary's City is the fourth oldest...

, then the site of a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 village, and they began the work of establishing a settlement there. The settlement of St. Mary's was built on land purchased from the native Yaocomico
Yaocomico
The Yaocomico, or Yaocomaco, were an Algonquian-speaking Native American group who lived along the north bank of the Potomac River near its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay in the 17th century...

.

Back in England, Baltimore could do little to help the young colony through its tribulations, which included an ongoing feud with Claiborne that led to a series of naval skirmishes.

Lord Baltimore continued as Maryland's first Proprietary Governor
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....

 (1632–1675), and attempted to maintain an active involvement in the governance of the colony, though he never visited it. During this long tenure, he governed through deputies, the last being his only son Charles
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...

.

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