|
Elizabeth Calvert (1731 – 1788) was the daughter of Maryland Governor Captain Charles Calvert and Rebecca Gerard, and a wealthy heiress in colonial Maryland. Her parents died when she was young, leaving her their substantial fortune. In 1748, aged 17, she married her cousin Benedict Swingate Calvert, a Loyalist politician and planter and the illegitimate son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. Benedict's connections to the ruling Calvert family allowed him to benefit from considerable proprietarial patronage, until the American Revolution saw the overthrow of British rule and the end of Calvert power in Maryland. Benedict and Elizabeth had to pay triple taxes after the war's end but, unlike many loyalists, their lands and fortune remained unconfiscated. Elizabeth was the grandmother of Charles Benedict Calvert (1808–1864), a U.S. Congressman who founded what is now the University of Maryland, College Park, chartered in 1856.〔(Prince George's Parks: History of Riversdale House Museum ) Retrieved Jan 20 2010〕 Elizabeth's portrait, painted by John Wollaston, still hangs on display, along with those of many of her Calvert relatives, in the Baltimore Museum of Art. ==Early life== Elizabeth's father Captain Calvert (1680–1734) was governor of Maryland at a time when the Calvert family had recently regained control of their proprietary colony. He was appointed Governor by his cousin Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, who in 1721 would travel to Maryland to take personal charge of the colony. Captain Calvert's parentage is not entirely clear since neither of his parents has been positively identified but it has long been assumed that his father was Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, 2nd Proprietor Governor of Maryland (1637–1715). His mother's identity in unknown but, judging by the Calvert family papers, she appears to have been the Countess Henrietta, also known as "Mother Calvert", who died circa 1728.〔Yentsch, p.55〕 Captain Calvert was replaced as governor in 1725.〔Yentsch, p.40〕 He suffered from early senility and died in 1734. Elizabeth's mother, Rebecca Gerard (1708-1734/35), was a landed heiress from Maryland.〔Yentsch, p.64〕 Rebecca was just sixteen when the couple were married on November 21, 1722 by the rector of Queen Anne's parish,〔 a marriage which "enlivened the whole winter season with entertainments for the new first lady", wrote Aubrey Land.〔 She was an only child and on her marriage her property, a plantation near Queen Anne's Town in Prince George's County, passed to Captain Calvert.〔Yentsch, p.65〕 Elizabeth had a brother, Charles (1723-1723/4), who died in infancy,〔Yentsch, p.66〕 and a sister, Anne (1724-c1737), who died in childhood.〔 Elizabeth's godfather was Captain Calvert's cousin, Benedict Leonard Calvert, governor of Maryland from 1727 to 1731, and second son of Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore. Benedict Calvert died of consumption in 1732, while sailing to his home in England.〔Yentsch, p.93〕 In his will, which he drew up before leaving Maryland, he left Elizabeth, then just one year old, a slave boy named Osmyn.〔Yentsch, p.61〕 Captain Calvert suffered from early senility and died on February 2, 1734.〔Yentsch, p.69〕 He had arrived in Maryland a relatively poor man, but died one of the wealthiest men in the Province.〔 On his death his estate was appraised at 4,401 pounds sterling.〔 His wife died soon afterwards, leaving their daughter Elizabeth an orphan but a wealthy heiress.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elizabeth Calvert」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|