Misc. Notes
Leonard Calvert (1606 – June 9, 1647) was the
1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland. He was the second son of
George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, the first proprietary of the Province of Maryland. His elder brother
Cecil, who inherited the colony and the title, appointed Leonard governor in his absence.
Colonization of Newfoundland
When Leonard's father received a
patent for the
Province of Avalon from
James I of England in 1625, he relocated his newly converted Catholic family to Newfoundland. After a few years, he declared Avalon a failure and traveled to the
Colony of Virginia, where he found the climate much more suitable, but met with an unwelcome reception from the Virginians.
Establishment of Maryland
In 1632, he returned to England where he negotiated an additional patent for the colony of Maryland from
Charles I of England. However, before the papers could be executed, George died on 15 April, 1632.
[2]On June 20, 1632, Cecil, the second
Lord Baltimore executed 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 the colony's first
Governor.
The Ark and The Dove
Two vessels, the
Ark and the
Dove, carrying over 300 settlers, sailed from the harbour of
Cowes, 22 November, 1633, arriving at
Point Comfort at the mouths of the
James,
Nansemond, and
Elizabeth Rivers, in
Virginia, 24 February, 1634. On 27 March they landed at what is now
St. Mary's, then the site of a
Native American village, and they began the work of establishing a settlement there
.
Governor of Maryland
Following his brother's instructions, Leonard at first attempted to govern the country in an
absolutist way, but in January 1635 he had to summon a colonial
assembly. In 1638 the assembly forced him to govern according to the laws of
England, and subsequently the right to initiate legislation passed to the assembly.
In 1638 Calvert seized a trading post at
Kent Island established by the Virginian
William Claiborne. In 1644 Claiborne led an uprising of Maryland Protestants. In 1643 Governor Calvert went to England to discuss policies with his brother the proprietor, leaving the affairs of the colony in charge of acting Governor
Giles Brent, his brother-in-law. Leonard Calvert married Ann Brent, daughter of Richard Brent. Later in 1643, Ann gave birth to a son, William Calvert and in 1644 a daughter. Leonard Calvert returned to Maryland in 1644 with his wife and child, but was soon forced to flee to
Virginia. He returned at the head of an armed force in 1646 and reasserted
proprietarial rule.
Leonard Calvert died of an illness in the summer of 1647. Before he died, he wrote a will naming
Margaret Brent the executor of his estate.