| Henry Darnall | |
|---|---|
| Colonel Henry Darnall. | |
| Chancellor of Maryland | |
| In office 1683–1689 |
|
| Colonel of the Militia | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office ? |
|
| Proprietory Agent and Receiver General | |
| In office 1684–1711 |
|
| Rent Roll Keeper | |
| In office 1689–1699 |
|
| Deputy Governor | |
| In office ? – 1689 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1645 England |
| Died | 1711 Maryland |
| Spouse(s) | Eleanor Hatton Brooke |
| Relations | Philip Darnall (father) Henry Darnall II (son) |
| Residence | His Lordship's Kindness |
| Occupation | planter, politician, soldier |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Colonel Henry Darnall (1645–1711), was a wealthy Maryland Roman Catholic planter, the Proprietary Agent of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (1605–1675). He served as Deputy Governor in Maryland. During the Protestant Revolution of 1689, his proprietarial army was defeated by the Puritan army of Colonel John Coode, and he was stripped of his numerous colonial offices. Darnall maintained a secret chapel in his home in order to celebrate the Roman Catholic Mass. He died in 1711, leaving over 30,000 acres (120 km2) of land and around 100 slaves to his son, Henry Darnall II.
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Henry Darnall was the son of the lawyer Philip Darnall, (b. 1604), who was the first member of the Darnall family to emigrate to Maryland from England. Philip Darnall was a relative of and secretary to George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (1579–1632), and soon became one of the wealthiest men in Maryland. Before arrival in the Americas, however, Philip Darnall and George Calvert travelled to France on an extended diplomatic mission, during which both men converted to the Roman Catholic faith.[1]
Henry Darnall emigrated to Maryland from England in the late 1660s or early 18th century, where he became in his own right a substantial landowner and slaveholder, inheriting extensive estates from his father. Like his father, he was a devout Roman Catholic, and he sent his sons to be educated at Jesuit schools in Europe established for English Catholics.
Politically, Colonel Darnall was strongly allied to the proprietarial interest of the Calvert family, and he soon became very wealthy, rapidly acquiring both land and political office. His colonial appointments included: Chancellor of Maryland from 1683 to 1689; His Lordship's Agent & Receiver General from 1684 to 1711; Rent Roll Keeper, 1689 to 1699; and Colonel of the Militia.[1] Most importantly, he served as deputy governor of the colony until his overthrow in 1689. From 1684 until 1689, the Governor of Maryland was Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, whose title was purely honorary given that he was just 5 years old at the time. Real political power in Maryland was vested in Darnall and his council.
In 1689, Maryland Puritans, by now a substantial majority in the colony, revolted against the proprietary government, in part because of the apparent preferment of Catholics to official positions of power. Led by Colonel John Coode, an army of 700 men defeated a proprietarial army led by Colonel Darnall.[1] Darnall later wrote: "Wee being in this condition and no hope left of quieting the people thus enraged, to prevent effusion of blood, capitulated and surrendered." The victorious Coode and his Puritans set up a new government that outlawed Catholicism, and Darnall was deprived of all his official positions.[1]
After this "Protestant Revolution" in Maryland, Darnall maintained a secret chapel in his home in order to celebrate the Catholic Mass. In 1704 the colonial legislature passed an Act "to prevent the growth of Popery in this Province", preventing Catholics from holding political office.[1] Full religious toleration would not be restored in Maryland until after the American Revolution. Darnall's great-grandson Charles Carroll of Carrollton, arguably the wealthiest Catholic in Maryland, signed the American Declaration of Independence.
Colonel Darnall married Eleanor Hatton Brooke (1642–1725), the widow of Major Thomas Brooke, who had died in 1676. Henry and Eleanor had a daughter, Mary, who married Charles Carroll the Settler. They had a son, Charles Carroll of Annapolis, and a grandson, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who was one of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence.
Henry Darnall was granted 7,000 acres (28 km2) of land in Prince George's County, Maryland in 1703 by Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, which Darnall named His Lordship's Kindness in recognition of Lord Baltimore's generosity. Darnall built a house for his family on a nearby property, known as The Woodyard, sometime between 1683 and 1711. When he died in 1711, Darnall left over 30,000 acres (120 km2) of land and around 100 slaves to his son Henry Darnall II.
A small portion of Darnall's former property, now called Darnall's Chance, can be visited today. The house sits on several acres of a formerly large tract of land of thousands of acres patented in 1704 by Darnall.[2] This plot was sold in 1741 by Darnalls' granddaughter Eleanor Darnall Carroll and her husband to James Wardrop, a merchant. He built the house ca. 1742. It was restored to its mid-eighteenth century state to reflect the life of Lettice Lee, who lived there for 30 years.