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UC CAREER. PROVINCIAL OFFICES governor,
1768-1776 (commissioned in 1768; arrived in
Maryland in 1 769; left the province for England in
May 1774, but returned in November 1774; sailed
for England in 1776); surveyor general of the
Western Shore, 1771-1776; commissioner for the
sale of proprietary manors and reserved lands,
commissioned 1771. MILITARY SERVICE: in En-
gland, lieutenant fireworker in the Royal Regi-
ment of Artillery, 1757; ensign, The Coldstream
Guards, 1758; active duty in Germany with The
Coldstream Guards, 1760; lieutenant and captain
in The Coldstream Guards, 1762; applied for a
lieutenant colonel's brevet, but was denied, 1770;
in Maryland, commander in chief of all provincial
forces. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL
PROPERTY: Eden was granted £100 per year by his
father-in-law from the time of his marriage until
his appointment as governor. He was given £800
current money by the General Assembly in 1769.
While governor, his estimated annual income was
£3000-4,000 per year. After his return to England
in 1776, Eden's personal property in Maryland
was confiscated, but 8 slaves confiscated in 1781
as Eden's property were later found to have been
conveyed to a creditor for payment of a debt. In
an Estate Act of 1781 passed by the British Parlia-
ment, £17,500 was awarded to Eden and his wife
in a settlement of litigation over the proprietor-
ship. By 1791 his creditors had made claims of
£3,132.2.4 current money against the estate. All
except £834.8.2 in debts incurred after 1776 were
allowed. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: probably
none in Maryland, except ca, 388 acres in Anne
Arundel County, given to his wife by her father
before 1771. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND
BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: In 1769,
Eden purchased the "Capitol Mansion House"
and grounds in Annapolis previously tenanted by
Gov. Horatio Sharpe, but he mortgaged it imme-
diately for the entire £1,000 purchase price. The
mortgage was released by 1775. One of Eden's
largest creditors, William Fitzhugh (ca. 1722-
1798), apparently took the ca. 388 acres of land in
Anne Arundel County in payment for Eden's
debts to him. Eden also owned 1 lot in Carrolls-
burgh, Prince George's County, which was confis-
cated in 1781 along with his lands in Annapolis.
WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED, on September 2, 1784,
in Annapolis, of dropsy. Buried at old St. Marga-
ret's Parish Church, Anne Arundel County; his
body was later removed to St. Anne's Churchyard,
Annapolis. PERSONAL PROPERTY: estate appraised
by the General Assembly at £2,745.15.0 current
money; £356.5.10 remained after payments to his
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creditors by 1794, with a claim of an additional
£559.13.2 outstanding as of that date. LAND: none
in Maryland. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: income at
death was at least £800 from a pension allowed
him by the British government.
EDGE, JAMES (ca. 1710-1757). BORN: ca. 1710.
IMMIGRATED: probably; probably from England.
RESIDED: in Mill Hundred, Talbot County. MAR-
RIED by 1746 Hannah (1702-1759), widow of
Capt. Tamberlaine Davis (?-1735), of Talbot
County, a mariner; eldest daughter of John Old-
ham (?-1729). Her brother was Edward Oldham
(1709-1773). Her sisters were Elizabeth (1704-by
1765); Mary (1707-?); and Martha. Her nieces
were Ann Oldham (?-by 1794), who married
Joshua Clarke (?-1781); Elizabeth Oldham (?-by
1776), who married William Hopper (by 1747-
1806); and Hannah Oldham (?-1828), who mar-
ried Nicholas Martin (1743-ca. 1808). CHILDREN.
STEPDAUGHTER: Frances Davis. PRIVATE CAREER.
EDUCATION: literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: An-
glican, St. Michael's Parish, Talbot County. SO-
CIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent., 1739. OCCU-
PATIONAL PROFILE: merchant, agent and factor
for Richard Gildart, Esq., of Liverpool, England.
PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE. Lower
House, Talbot County, 1754-1756 (Accounts 1-5;
Bills of Credit 1-5; died before the 6th session).
LOCAL OFFICES: justice, Talbot County, 1741-at
least 1756 (quorum, 1749-at least 1756); St. Mi-
chael's Parish Vestry, Talbot County, in office
1743, 1750, 1756-1757. WEALTH DURING LIFE-
TIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY: his wife received all
of the real and personal estate of her first hus-
band, whose TEV was at least £1,610.13.9 current
money (including 20 slaves and a brigantine called
Hannah & Frances), 1735; his wife bound herself
to pay £600 current money to her daughter by her
first husband when she became 21 years of age or
married, 1739. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 3,843
acres in Talbot and Dorchester counties, plus 1 lot
in Oxford, Talbot County (303 acres were the resi-
due of 623 acres of the land acquired through his
marriage; 3,540 acres, plus 1 lot, by purchase and
patent). WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED, in January
1757; buried at Christ Church, St. Michael's, Tal-
bot County. LAND: 3,843 acres in Talbot and Dor-
chester counties. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Edge
left all of his real and personal estate to his wife,
who in turn left nearly all of his estate, as well as
her own, to her two nieces, Ann and Elizabeth
Oldham, both of whom married legislators.
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