| Barony of Baltimore | |
| Creation date | 1625 |
|---|---|
| Created by | James I of England |
| Peerage | Peerage of Ireland |
| First holder | George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore |
| Present holder | None |
| Remainder to | {{{remainder to}}} |
Baron Baltimore, of Baltimore Manor in County Longford, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1625 for George Calvert and became extinct on the death of the sixth Baron in 1771. The title was held by several members of the Calvert family who were proprietors of the palatinates Province of Avalon in Newfoundland and Province of Maryland, later the U.S. state of Maryland. In the context of United States history, the name Lord Baltimore usually refers to Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore after whom the city of Baltimore, Maryland is named. His younger brother Leonard Calvert was the first Governor of Maryland.
As members of the Irish peerage, the Lords Baltimore were able to sit in the House of Commons. Irish peerages were often used as a way of creating peerages which did not grant a seat in the English House of Lords and so allowed the grantee to sit in the House of Commons in London. As a consequence, many Irish peers had little or no connection to Ireland.
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Though the barony is extinct, The Barons Baltimore left a number of descendants, including:
There are several locations in Maryland named after the Barons Baltimore, including Baltimore County, Baltimore City. Calvert County, Cecil County, Charles County, Frederick County, Leonardtown, St. Leonard and Calvert Cliffs. Anne Arundell's name survives in that of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. His name survives in that of Cecil County, Maryland, Cecil Avenue and Calvert Street in Baltimore City, and Calvert street in Washington, DC. Harford County is named for Henry Harford, the illegitimate son of Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, who while not able to inherit the peerage, did inherit the Lord Proprietorship, only to lose it during the Revolution. There is also a Charles Street in Baltimore. The main downtown street in Cumberland, Maryland is named Baltimore Street. On the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, there is a settlement named Calvert, and in nearby Ferryland there is a Baltimore School.
A life-sized statue of Cecilius Calvert is located in front of the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Court House in Baltimore, Maryland.
Uniquely among the fifty states, the flag of the State of Maryland still bears the arms of its former Baltimore owners.