Philip Calvert (1626-1682)
MSA SC 3520-199
Biography:
Born: 1626 in England; youngest son.
Died: Late December, 1682.
Immigrated: 1656 as a free adult with his wife.
Resided: "Pope's Freehold," St. Mary's County until 1679; "St. Peter's," St. Mary's County
after 1679.
Family Background:
Father: Sir
George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore (1578/79-1632).
Mother: Joan.
Half Brothers: Cecilius
Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore (1605-1675);
Leonard Calvert (ca. 1606-1647);
George
(1613-1634); Francis; Henry; and John (1618-1618/19).
Half Sisters: Anne; Dorothy; Elizabeth; Grace (1614-?); and Helen (1615-1655).
Married: First, by 1656
Anne,
daughter of Sir Thomas Wolseley, of Wolseley, Staffordshire, England, and wife Helen Broughton.
Married: Second, in 1681
Jane,
daughter of Henry Sewall
(?-1665) and wife
Jane Lowe;
step-daughter of
Charles
Calvert, 3rd Lord Baltimore (1637-1714/15).
Her brother was Nicholas
Sewall (ca. 1655-1737).
Her sisters were
Elizabeth, who married first,
Jesse Wharton (?-1676),
and second, William
Digges (ca. 1650-1697);
Anne,
who married first, Benjamin Rozer
(?-1681), and second, Edward Pye
(?-1696); and
Mary (?-1693/94), who married first, William Chandler (1652-1685), son of
Job Chandler (?-1659), and
second, George Brent.
Children:
Died without progeny.
Private Career:
Education: Literate, probably had considerable schooling.
Religious Affiliation: Catholic.
Social Status and Activities: Arrived with commissions as councilor and secretary; very
influential member of the proprietary family; his twenty-five years on the Council was a rare example of
longevity in that office for seventeenth-century Maryland.
Occupational Profile: Placeman; planter.
Public Career:
Legislative Service: Upper House, 1658, 1659/60, 1661, 1662,
1663-1664, 1666, 1669 (Aggrievances), 1671-1674/75, 1676-1682, 1682 (died before the 2nd session).
Other Provincial Offices: Council, 1656-1660, 1661-1682 (president,
1656-1660, 1661-1682); justice, Provincial Court, 1656-1660, 1661-1682;
secretary, 1656-1660; treasurer and receiver general, 1659-1660;
governor, 1660-1661; chancellor, 1660-1682; deputy governor, 1669; commissary general, 1672-1682.
Local Office: Mayor, St. Mary's City, 1668-1671.
Stands on Public/Private Issues: His arrival in colony in 1656 was the first time since 1647 that
Lord Baltimore had a trusted family member and advisor in the colony; over the next thirty-six years,
Calvert provided important stability and leadership, although he often incurred the displeasure of his
nephew,
Charles Calvert, after the latter arrived to supersede Philip as governor in 1661.
Wealth During Lifetime:
Land at First Election: 4,700 acres by 1660, which he sold or surrendered by 1664; acquired 1,900
acres in 1664, and an additional 2,000 acres in 1670.
Wealth at Death:
Personal Property: An extensive library of nearly 100 books.
Land: Over 3,900 acres.
Return to Philip Calvert's Introductory Page
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