Charles Calvert, MSA SC 3520-195 Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Charles Calvert (1699-1751)

BORN: on September 29, 1699, in England; eldest son. IMMIGRATED: in December 1732. RESIDED: in England; in Maryland from December 1732 until July 1733 when he returned to England.

FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Lord Baltimore (1679—1715). STEPFATHER: Christopher Crewe. MOTHER: Lady Charlotte Lee (7—1721). BROTHERS: Benedict Leonard Calvert (1700—1732); Edward Henry Calvert (1701—1730); and Cecilius Calvert (1702—1765). SISTERS: Charlotte Calvert (17O2—l744); Jane Calvert (1703—?); Barbara Calvert (1704—died young); and Anne Calvert. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: His parents were divorced in 1705.

MARRIED in 1730 Mary Janssen (?—1748), daughter of Sir Theodore Janssen (ca. 1658—1748), who immigrated from France to England in 1680, was naturalized in 1685, and became a baronet in 1714, and wife Williamsa (?—1731); granddaughter of Sir Robert Henley, M.P. Her brothers included Abraham Janssen (?—1765); Henry Janssen (?—1766); Stephen Theodore Janssen (?—1777), lord mayor of London; and William Janssen (?—ca. 1740/41), principal secretary of Maryland from February 1732/33 until death. Her sisters included Barbara Janssen, who married Thomas Bladen (1698—1780).

CHILDREN. SONS: Frederick Calvert, 6th Lord Baltimore (1731/32— 1771); Charles Calvert (1737—died young). NATURAL SON: Benedict Calvert (ca. 1724-1788). DAUGHTERS:Frances Dorothy Calvert (1734-1736); Louisa Calvert, who married John Browning (?—1792); and Caroline Calvert, who married Robert Eden (1741—1784).

PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION; literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION; Catholic, converted to Anglican. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: fellow of the Royal Society. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS; Thomas Carlyle (1795—1881) described Calvert "as something of a fool, to judge by the face of him in portraits, and by some of his doings in the world,” but a modern historian credits him as being “a careful and fairly successful administrator.” OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE; proprietor of Maryland, 1715—1751.

PUBLIC CAREER. PROVINCIAL OFFICES; governor, 1732— 1733; chancellor, 1732—1733. OUT OF COLONY SERVICE; cofferer to H.R.H. Frederick, Prince of Wales; lord of the Admiralty, 1741; M.P., Surrey, England.

WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. As proprietor Calvert’s private income included duties enacted by the provincial legislature for his benefit, such as a 14 pence sterling per ton duty on shipping, plus up to £10,000 sterling per year in land revenues. Calvert owned all unpatented land in Maryland. He personally owned twenty-one manors in various locations in the colony, plus reserves around each manor to prevent encroachment by patentees. Manor and reserved lands totaled at least 103,000 acres. By 1751 manor lands amounted to ca. 111,500 acres.

WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED; on April 24, 1751; size of estate unknown.

Source: Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789. Vol. I, A-H. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979.

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