Cecil Calvert (1605 - 1675)

Born 8 Aug 1605 in Bexley, Kent, England

Ancestors

Husband of Anne (Arundel) Calvert — married after 20 Mar 1628 in England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 30 Nov 1675 at age 70 in Muswell Hill, Middlesex, England

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Biography

Birth, Parents and Earlier Life

Cecil Calvert was the son of George Calvert and his first wife Anne Mynne.^[1][2][3] He was born on 8 August 1605 and baptised with the first name Cecil at Bexley, Kent on 2 March 1605/6 (1606 in modern reckoning).^[1][2][3][4] He was named after the statesman Robert Cecil.^[3] He was his father's main heir.^[1][2]

Cecil matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford in July 1621, at the age of 15.^[5] Like many people from gentry families, he did not graduate.^[3]

In 1623 he went to Rome, and joined the Roman Catholic Church.^[3]

Marriage and Children

In 1628 Cecil married Anne Arundell: their wedding settlement was dated 20 March 1627/8 (1628 in modern reckoning).^[1][2][6] Anne brought him lands near Wardour in Wiltshire.^[7] They had nine children:

• George,^[1][2] who died in infancy^[3]
• Charles, who became 3rd Lord Baltimore^[1][2][3]
• Cecil^[1][2]
• Georgiana^[1][2]
• Mary^[1][2]
• Frances^[1][2]
• Anne^[1][2]
• Mary, who married William Blakiston^[1][2]
• Elizabeth^[1][2]

Cecil's wife Anne died on 23 July 1649^[6][7] and was buried at Tisbury, Wiltshire.^[1][2][8]

Newfoundland and Avalon

Cecil inherited from his father proprietary rights over Newfoundland and the colony of Avalon there, though the colony had been largely abandoned.^[9] See research note, below.

Maryland

In 1632 Charles I awarded Cecil, as his father's heir, the proprietorship of Maryland, his father having sought this but having died before the award.^[1][2][10] On 31 July 1633 the Lords of the Admiralty issued a warrant "for the Ark of Maryland, of 350 tons, set forth by Lord Baltimore, for his plantation at Maryland in America, with her crew of about 40 men, to be free from impressment."^[11] Cecil took possession of Maryland in 1634,^[1][2][10] when he made his brother Leonard Governor of Maryland.^[3] The rent was set at two Indian arrows (to be presented at Windsor Castle on Tuesday in Easter week each year) and a fifth of any gold or silver found in the colony.^[12] He himself never went to Maryland, and was an absentee Proprietor.^[3][9] He was granted "palatinate" powers, which gave him considerable legal authority and the right to wage war, and made the colony hereditable within his family.^[3][9][13] The grant of Maryland led to friction with Virginia, which regarded itself as having a prior claim to the area.^[3][9]

Cecil sought to attract wealthy investors, and pursued a policy of religious toleration, telling leading Catholics in Maryland to deal fairly with Protestants, to "cause all Acts of Romane Catholique Religion to be done as privately as may be", and to "instruct all Roman Catholiques to be silent upon all Occasions of discourse concerning matters of Religion."^[10]

Cecil also sought to keep on good terms with Charles I, no doubt largely to help safeguard his rights. For instance, in 1636 he made a New Year's gift of a sconce worth £169.^[14]

The proprietorship of Maryland continued not to be easy. Cecil's father-in-law Thomas Arundell wrote to Charles I's Secretary of State Francis Windebank in 1639: "My son[-in-law Lord] Baltimore is brought so low with his setting forward the plantation of Maryland, and with the clamorous suits and opposition which he has met with in that business, as that I do not see how he could subsist if I did not give him diet for himself, wife, children, and servants."^[15]

Difficulties in England as a Catholic

As a Catholic, Cecil also encountered difficulties in England. Catholics with property in the North of England were ordered to go to their property there by 1 March 1639. In February 1638/9 he wrote to Francis Windebank asking to be given an exemption from this

"because my wife has not, I protest to you, stirred out of her chamber these three months last past, through sickness, and I have little hope that she can be able to make any such journey as into Yorkshire, where my land is, by the 1st of next month. Nor, indeed, am I any way provided to live there with a family, where I never resided in my life, nor have indeed so much as seen my land there these 10 years, it being all let out, together with my house, to tenants."^[16]

English Civil War and the Commonwealth

Cecil is not known to have fought for the royalists during the English Civil War, but nonetheless he suffered financially at the hands of the parliamentarians.^[6] He did though eventually succeed in safeguarding his rights to Maryland,^[1][2] but only after a struggle. A tobacco merchant and parliamentarian called Richard Ingle plundered the colony in 1645; Cecil's brother Leonard sought safety in Virginia; and the Calvert family's authority and proprietorship was not regained until the following year.^[9][3]

In 1649 Cecil was instrumental in getting the Maryland legislature to pass a law giving toleration to all Christians. Although he was a Roman Catholic himself, he allowed radical Protestants, who had found it difficult to practice their religion in Virginia, to settle in Maryland in 1649. After his brother Leonard's death in 1647, Cecil appointed a Protestant Governor to ease relations with the English Parliamentary regime.^[9][3]

In 1651 the Commonwealth Parliament established a committee to look into the "business... of the Plantations of Maryland, to which Lord Baltimore pretends".^[17] In 1652 it took control of Maryland. In 1654 staunch Protestants imposed a law which placed political restrictions on Anglicans and Catholics. It was only in 1658 that Oliver Cromwell restored Maryland to full Calvert proprietorship.^[3][9]

After the Restoration

After the Restoration of Charles II, Maryland began to prosper more, with tobacco-growing a major contributor to the economy.^[3][9] Cecil made his son Charles Governor in 1661.^[18] Difficulties with Protestants over religious toleration continued to arise.^[3][9]

Death

Cecil died on 30 November 1675^[1][2][6] at Muswell Hill near London^[19] and was buried on 7 December 1675 at St Giles in the Fields, London. His name is given as Cecilius in a memorial plaque placed in the church by the Governor of Maryland on 10 May 1996.^[1][2][20] His will (dated 22 and 28 Nov 1675) was proved on 3 February 1675/6 (1676 in modern reckoning):^[1][2][6] the National Archives catalogue entry for the will gives his name as Cecil rather than Cecilius.^[19]

Cecil's son Charles inherited the title of Lord Baltimore and the proprietorship of Maryland.^[3][9]

Legacy

Cecil County in Maryland is named after Cecil, and Anne Arundel County after his wife. In 1908 a statute of Cecil was set up at the Circuit Courthouse of Baltimore City.^[13] Cecil's heraldic arms feature on the flag of Maryland, officially adopted in 1904.^[21]

Research Notes

His Father's 1628 Expedition to Newfoundland

Cecil's Wikipedia entry states, with no source, that he went with his father and other members of the family to Newfoundland in 1628.^[13] There appears to be no evidence to support this, and Cecil's entry in American National Biography states categorically that Cecil stayed in England.^[9]

Gray's Inn

Douglas Richardson states that Cecil was admitted to Gray's Inn on 8 August 1633.^[1][2] This appears to be a mistake: the Admission Register records his brother Leonard (described as "second son of George") being admitted on that date.^[22] The apparent mistake is repeated (as at 14 March 2021) in Cecil's Wikipedia entry, with Richardson as the source.^[13]

Richardson Suggestion that he was a Knight of the Shire

Douglas Richardson states that Cecil was a Knight of the Shire - that is, he represented a county in Parliament.^[1][2] No good source has been found to support this and his name is not mentioned as a Member of Parliament on the History of Parliament Online website.

Number of Children

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that Cecil and his wife Anne Arundell had at least five children, among them two sons, the elder of whom died in infancy.^[3] American National Biography also states that they had at least five children.^[9] This profile follows Douglas Richardson in ascribing nine children to them.

Formerly attached son John

WikiTree has previously shown a son John, born in Yorkshire with a guessed and unsourced birth date of about 1630: as at 14 March 2021, the text in the biography section of John's profile muddles up generations for the Calvert family. John is not listed in Douglas Richardson or other sources as a son of Cecil, and has been detached. He may belong to a different Calvert family from the North of England.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. I, pp. 393-4, CALVERT 17, Google Books
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. II, p. 64, CALVERT 22
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Calvert, Cecil, second Baron Baltimore', print and online 2004, revised online 2008, available online by subscription and via some libraries
4. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N15R-KLQ : 22 March 2020), Cecill Calvert, 1605: note that the transcript wrongly gives the father's name as John, and gives the year as 1605 - it was 1605/6, or 1606 in modern reckoning
5. ↑ Joseph Foster. Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, Vol. I, Parker and Co, Oxford, 1888-1892, p. 232, Ancestry.co.uk
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, St Catherine Press, 1910, Vol. I, pp. 393-394, BALTIMORE II, Internet Archive
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} George Oliver. Collections Illustrating the History of the Catholic Religion in the Counties of Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts. and Gloucester, Charles Dolman, 1857, p.91, Internet Archive
8. ↑ Anne's memorial inscription is transcribed on FindAGrave at Find A Grave: Memorial #82802040
9. ↑ ^{9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11} American National Biography, entry for 'Calvert, Cecilius (08 August 1605–30 November 1675)', print 1999, online 2000, available online via some libraries
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Calvert, Leonard', print and online 2004, revised online 2006
11. ↑ 'Charles I - volume 243: July 16-31, 1633', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1633-4, ed. John Bruce (London, 1863), pp. 144-164, British History Online, entry for 31 July 1633, accessed 15 March 2021
12. ↑ William Hand Browne. George Calvert and Cecilius Calvert, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, 1890, pp. 35-36, Google Books
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3} Wikipedia: Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
14. ↑ 'Charles I - volume 311: January 1-20, 1636', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1635-6, ed. John Bruce (London, 1866), pp. 141-174, British History Online, accessed 15 March 2021
15. ↑ 'Charles I - volume 413: February 16-28, 1639', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1638-9, ed. John Bruce and William Douglas Hamilton (London, 1871), pp. 470-522, British History Online, entry for 17 February 1638/9, accessed 15 March 2021
16. ↑ 'Charles I - volume 412: February 1-15, 1639', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1638-9, ed. John Bruce and William Douglas Hamilton (London, 1871), pp. 411-470, British History Online, entry for 5 February 1638/9, accessed 15 March 2021
17. ↑ 'Volume 15: May 1651', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Interregnum, 1651, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1877), pp. 173-228, British History Online, accessed 15 March 2021
18. ↑ American National Biography, entry for 'Calvert, Charles (27 August 1637–20 February 1715)', print 199, online 2000
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} The National Archives, PROB 5/2837, Discovery Centre catalogue entry, accessed 13 March 2021
20. ↑ Memorial plaque viewable at Find A Grave: Memorial #8262
21. ↑ Wikipedia: Flag of Maryland
22. ↑ Joseph Foster (ed.). The Register of Admissions of Gray's Inn 1521-1889, Hansard Publish Ubnion, 1889, p. 201, Internet Archive

• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for "Magna Carta Ancestry".
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Royal Ancestry’’.
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Calvert, Cecil, second Baron Baltimore', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
• American National Biography, entry for 'Calvert, Cecilius (08 August 1605–30 November 1675)', print 1999, online 2000, available online via some libraries
• Wikipedia: Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was revised for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley, finishing on 15 March 2021, and was then approved by Traci Thiessen.

Cecil Calvert is listed in Magna Carta Ancestry in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestor Charles Calvert to Magna Carta Surety Baron William de Huntingfield (vol. I, pages 392-394 CALVERT). This trail was project-approved/badged in July 2015 by a Magna Carta Project member and re-reviewed in 2021. This trail is set out in the Magna Carta Trails section of Leonard Calvert's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".