Margaret Brent
Margaret Brent, a British noblewoman, settled in Maryland in 1638 and became one of its most notable businesspersons, lawyers, and entrepreneurs.
Brent was born to the Lord of Admingoton and Lark Stoke, Richard Brent, and his wife, Elizabeth Reed. Brent, her sister Mary, and two brothers, Giles and Fulke Brent, arrived in St. Mary’s, Maryland on November 22, 1638. Brent and her sister established an estate near Saint Mary's City called "Sisters Freehold," living separately from their brothers. Brent became a prominent businesswoman and landowner, engaging in several business ventures, including trading tobacco, indentured servants, and land. She never married and handled her business affairs as a man would have done, such as appearing in court to collect her debts, extraordinary for the time she lived, when women were often married and their husbands gained control of their property.
On his deathbed, Leonard Calvert, the colonial governor of Maryland, appointed Brent as his executrix of his estate in 1647. During this time of political turmoil and uncertainty about the future of the settlement, Brent helped to ensure the payment and feeding of the soldiers hired to protect the colony, thus settling their disgruntlement and the possibility of mutiny.
Brent is best known for her appearance before the Maryland Proprietary Assembly on January 21, 1648, when she petitioned the Assembly for the right to vote. Brent requested that she be able to have one vote as a landowner and another vote as an attorney for Lord Baltimore. She most likely made this request to fulfill her responsibility to the Calvert family as executrix. The members of the Assembly were shocked that a woman would make such a request and refused her. However, to pay and feed the disgruntled soldiers, Brent had to sell Lord Baltimore’s cattle, angering him. Even though the Assembly explained the critical situation in the colony and defended Brent, Lord Baltimore became politically antagonistic towards the Brents.
The Brents eventually moved to Virginia (1649-1651), where they brought in settlers and started a plantation that was named Peace. Brent remained there until she died in 1671.
The statement made by Margaret Brent when she appeared before the Assembly was not, "Women should vote," but "Taxation without representation is tyranny." Marylanders can take pride in Brent's statement, which has since become esteemed in American political philosophy.
Brent is honored in Historic St. Mary’s City with a memorial located in the Governor’s Fields area of the museum. There is also a bas-relief plaque by sculptor Mary F. dePach depicting the scene where Brent was at the Assembly for “vote and voyce.”
Biography courtesy of the Maryland Commission for Women, 1985; updated 2023.