Thomas Bladen
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Sir Thomas Bladen (1698-1780) was an appointed Governor of Provincial Maryland in 1742.
Bladen was born in Maryland in 1698.[1][2]
He traveled to England, where he married Barbara Jansen (daughter of Sir Theodore Jansen, the Baronet of Surry), who was also the sister-in-law of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore and Proprietor of the Province.[3] In 1742, he returned to Maryland as provincial Governor, the first governor to be born in the Province.[1]
Upon his arrival in Maryland, the Legislature awarded him £4,000 to build himself a residence, which was £1,000 more than his predecessor.[1] In 1774, he bought four acres of land in Annapolis from Stephen Bordley and commenced construction of a building.[3] He quickly disagreed with the Legislature about its architecture[3] and became involved in a lawsuit with Bordley, the previous owner, and construction halted.[3]
He quickly became an unpopular Governor[3] and returned to England in 1746, when he was succeeded by Samuel Ogle.
In England, he was later a member of Parliament.
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[edit] Legacy
The Governor's residence sat uncompleted until 1766 when the roof collapsed. The building now serves as the central hall of St. John's College and is named McDowell Hall.[3]
The town of Bladensburg, Maryland, which was incorporated in the first year of his governorship, was named after him.
[edit] Family
He had three daughters:
- Harriet, m. 4th Earl of Essex, ancestress of the 6th and subsequent earls.
- Elizabeth (a.k.a. Anne), m. Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke.
- Barbara, m. Henry St. John, a brother of the 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Mereness, Newton Dennison (1901). Maryland as a Proprietary Province. London: The MacMillan Company, 350.
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, <http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101068455/>
- ^ a b c d e f Warfield, Joshua Dorsey (July 1905). The Founders of Anne Arundel And Howard Counties, Maryland. Baltimore, Maryland: Kohn & Pollock, 208. ISBN 0806379715.
[edit] External links
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| Preceded by Samuel Ogle |
Governor of Maryland 1742-1746/47 |
Succeeded by Samuel Ogle |
