Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

John Hart (?-c. 1740) 
MSA SC 3520-612 

Biography:

BORN: in Ireland.
IMMIGRATED: in 1714 as a free adult with his wife.
RESIDED: in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County; returned to England in May 1720. Of Wardstick, County Berks, England at death.

FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER: Merrick Hart (?-ca. 1681), of Crovert, County Cavan, Ireland.
MOTHER: Lettice Vesey, daughter of Thomas Vesey.
BROTHERS: Thomas (?-1708); Rev. Henry (1678-1734)
SISTERS: Lettis; Jane; Ann; Mary; Elizabeth
UNCLE: John Vesey, archbishop of Tuam.
MARRIED: first, Mary (1681-?), widow of Capt. Francis Purefroy, daughter of Col. Henry Hart (1651-1712)
MARRIED: second, Anne.
CHILDREN. SON: Thomas (1713-1756), who married in 1741, Jane, daughter of Sir John Cotton of Conington, County Huntingdon, England; Henry (1717-1718). DAUGHTER: Marylandia (1716-?), who married Robert Parry of Plas Newydd, County Denbigh, Wales.

PRIVATE CAREER.
EDUCATION: literate.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES arrived as governor; he received his commission through the support of Benedict Leonard Calvert and on promising to give Calvert £500 annually from the profits of the office.
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE military officer who had served as a captain in Spain and Portugal before coming to Maryland; colonial bureaucrat.

PUBLIC CAREER.
PROVINCIAL OFFICES: governor, 1713/14-1720; chancellor, 1715-1719/20; surveyor general of the Eastern Shore, 1716/17-1720; surveyor general of the Western Shore, 1716/17- 1720.
OUT OF COLONY SERVICE governor of the Leeward Islands, 1721-1727.

WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: took a 31-year lease on 200 acres in 1715.

WEALTH AT DEATH.
DIED: will proven January 26, 1740, in London, England.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: will mentions government securities, money, plate, and jewels.
LAND: will mentions lands in England, Ireland, and 'plantations abroad.'

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), 420, 945.
 

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