Phillip Calvert

Phillip Calvert (* 1626 in England ; † 1682 in Calvert County , later in the US state of Maryland ) was an English colonial governor of the Province of Maryland .

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Phillip Calvert was a member of the Maryland Calvert family, which was very influential. Maryland Colony was then owned by this family. Several family members were governors of this colony in the 17th and 18th centuries. Philip was the third son of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore . This received the area of ​​the later Maryland from the English King Charles I as a gift. After his death, Phillips eldest brother Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore inherited the colony. His other brother Leonard was the first governor of the Province of Maryland between 1634 and 1647.

As a later son, Phillip Calvert inherited neither the title of nobility nor the possession of the colony. But he put himself in the service of the family and held important offices in Maryland from 1656. He had previously studied at the English College in Lisbon. In Maryland he had troubled times. There had been a Puritan revolt there in the 1650s . In the course of this uprising, the then Governor William Stone had to flee the colony. At the same time, Cæcilius Calvert was expropriated as the owner of the colony. An attempt at restoration failed in 1655 in the Battle of the Severn (Battle of the Severn) . Stone was captured then and threatened with death. It was not until 1656/1657 that the earlier order was restored in Maryland. Lord Calvert got the colony back and Josias Fendall , who was then a confidante of the lord, took over the governorship. But this turned out to be not loyal and staged an uprising against the Calverts. After this uprising was put down, Phillip Calvert was entrusted with the governorship. This pardoned Fendall. He held this office only in 1660 and then passed it on to his nephew Charles Calvert . During his tenure, parts of Maryland's southern border were established. Later he held various offices in the colony. Among other things, he was the chief judge of the colonial court (Provincial Court). As chancellor of the colony, he held the second highest colonial office and was thus the deputy of his nephew, the governor. In 1668 he was also mayor of the then colonial capital of St. Mary's City . Phillip was a respected citizen in the colony. He owned land (3900 acres) and a large villa. He died in 1682. Phillip Calvert was married to Anne Wolsely. In the early 1990s, the remains of the couple and their child were discovered in the ruins of a chapel.

Web links

• Phillip Calvert in the History of St. Mary's City
• Phillip Calvert in Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties
• Discovery of Mary Calvert's coffin

• Phillip Calvert in the database of Find a Grave (English)

See also

• Pedigree of the Calvert family