Leonard Calvert

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Leonard Calvert (1606 - 1647) was the son of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore. On the female line, he had some blood of Plantagenet Kings of England (Plantagenet - Mortimer - Wroth - Mynne - Calvert). Leonard's wife, Anne Brent, also descended from Edward III (Plantagenet - Beaufort - Neville - Willoughby - Greville - Reed - Brent). When Leonard's older brother Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore received a charter for the colony of Maryland in 1632, Leonard was appointed the colony's first governor. He landed there in the spring of 1634, arriving with 17 gentlemen and their wives and about two hundred others aboard the ships Ark and Dove and establishing the town of St. Mary's.

As per his brother's instructions, Leonard at first attempted to govern the country in an absolutist way but in january 1635 he had to summon a colonial assembly. In 1638 the assembly forced him to govern according to the laws of England, and subsequently the right to initiate legislation passed to the assembly.

In 1638 Calvert seized a trading post in Kent Island established by the Virginian William Claiborne. In 1644 Claiborne led an uprising of Maryland Protestants. In 1643 Governor Calvert went to England to discuss policies with the proprietor, leaving the affairs of the colony in charge of acting Governor Brent. Leonard Calvert married Ann Brent, daughter of Richard Brent. Later in 1643, Ann gave birth to a son, William Calvert. Leonard Calvert returned to Maryland in 1644 with his wife and child, but was soon forced to flee to Virginia. He returned at the head of an armed force in 1646 and reasserted proprietorial rule.

Leonard Calvert died of an illness in the summer of 1647. Before he died, he wrote a will naming Margaret Brent the executor of his estate.

In 1890 the state of Maryland erected a monument to him and his wife at St. Mary's.

Today, there are many living descendants of Leonard Calvert. Many from the Dulany, Debutts, Hayden, and Onnen families currently live in Virginia and Maryland. There is a sizable number of Leonard Calvert's descendants living in Western Kentucky, and there are some in Southern Indiana.