Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Benjamin Tasker (ca. 1690-1768)
MSA SC 3520-1227

Biography:

Born c. 1690 in Calvert County, Maryland. Son of Thomas and Rebecca Isaacs (Brooke) Tasker. Anglican. Married Anne, daughter of William Bladen, July 31, 1711, St. Anne's Parish, Anne Arundel County. Children: William (1713-1715); Benjamin (1717); Bladen (?-c. 1721); Benjamin Tasker, Jr. (1720/21-1760); Bladen (1722-1723); Bladen (1730-?); Anne (Tasker) Ogle (1723-1817); Rebecca (Tasker) Dulany (1724-1822); Elizabeth (Tasker) Lowndes (1726-1789); Frances (Tasker) Carter (?-1787). Died June 19, 1768, in Annapolis, Maryland. Buried St. Anne's Churchyard, Annapolis, Maryland.

Planter. Founding partner, Baltimore Ironworks, October 1731. Member, Lower House, 1715, 16-17, 20-21/22. Member, Upper House, 1722-24, 25-27, 28-31, 32-34, 34/35-37, 38, 39-41, 42-44, 45, 45/46-48, 49-51, 51-54, 54-57, 57-58, 58-61, 62-63, 65-66, 68; president, 1734/5-38, 39-41, 42-44, 45, 45/46-48, 49-51, 51-54, 54-57, 57-58, 58-61, 62-63, 65-66, 68. Assistant clerk, Governor's Council, appointed 1713. Clerk, Prerogative Office, 1714/15-July 1728. Surveyor and searcher, Annapolis, August 1718-July 1734, September 1746-death. Naval officer, Annapolis, 1719, July 1733-September 1742. Commissioner, Paper Currency Office, by December 1733-1734. Rent roll keeper of the Western Shore, 1733-52. Joint commissary general, February 1733/34-1734, August 1754-January 1756. Sole commissary general, January 1756-December 1758. Agent and receiver general, November 1734, November 1742-53. Justice, Provincial Court, 1726-31. Agent under the Supply Act of 1740 to provision men for the expedition to the Spanish Indies. Agent, appointed July 1746, to recruit and pay volunteers for a military mission to Canada. Judge, Land Office, 1746-47. Member, Governor's Council, 1722-death; president, 1737, 1741, 1742-death. In his capacity as president of the Council, Tasker acted as chief executive, chancellor, and surveyor general of the Western Shore from Governor Samuel Ogle's death on May 3, 1752, until the arrival of Governor Horatio Sharpe on August 10, 1753. Tasker again acted as chief executive while Sharpe was absent from Annapolis on military duty during the French and Indian War. Justice, Anne Arundel County, by 1714-17, 1720. Churchwarden, St. Anne's Parish, Anne Arundel County, 1714-15. Member, St. Anne's Parish Vestry, Anne Arundel County, 1715-17, 22-27, 30-33. Deputy commissary, Anne Arundel County, by 1715-1718. Sheriff, Anne Arundel County, 1717-20. Justice, Court of Oyer, Terminer, and Gaol Delivery, Anne Arundel County, 1715, 1716, 1720, 1728. Alderman, Annapolis, 1720, 1754-66 (inactive 1761-1765, resigned 1766). Mayor of Annapolis, 1721-22, 26-27, 47-48, 50-53, 56-57.

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