Charles Calvert

From the Catholic Encyclopedia

Third Baron of Baltimore and second Proprietary Governor of Maryland. Born in London, 1629; died at Epsom, Surrey, England, 20 February, 1715. He was the son of Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, and Anne Arundel (Calvert). He was Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1661 to 1684, and Lord Proprietor from 1675 to 1691. He married Jane, widow of Henry Sewell of Matapaney on the Patuxent, Maryland. During his administration, boundary disputes with Virginia, the Swedes of Delaware, and William Penn came up and were settled. He became proprietor upon the death of his father, 1675. At this time an effort was made by the Protestants to make the Church of England the established Church of Maryland, but he succeeded in maintaining religious freedom. In 1676 the assembly was called together and important changes were made in the laws. At this time the colony was growing rapidly, the population having increased from 1200 to 2000 between the years 1660 and 1675. He went to England in 1676 and returned in 1680. In 1682 he, with his uncle Philip Calvert, met William Penn to settle the boundary dispute between Maryland and Pennsylvania. At this time dissensions were frequent in the colony and Protestant bigotry was rising in England. Calvert left for the mother country in 1684 to look after the interests of the colony. After the Protestant revolution in 1688, which placed William and Mary on the throne of England, Baltimore was deprived of his proprietary rights in 1691. In 1711 he petitioned the crown to have the government of the province restored to him, but this was refused on account of his Catholicism. Although he never visited Ireland, he was outlawed there for high treason on account of his religion but this outlawry was reversed by the king in 1691.

J.E. HAGERTY