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Maryland for Lord BaltimoreLand Patent Given Great Seal of Approval
Lord Baltimore receives a land patent in America called Maryland, encompassing present-day Maryland, Delaware, parts of Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Give Me Land, Lots of Land in MarylandConducting themselves as gentlemen, the King and Lord Baltimore agreed on a new patent of land. This new holding would be north of the Virginia colony where they believed no Virginians had settled. Even this patent would prove troublesome since the Chesapeake Bay, which Claiborne had trading rights to, cut from north to south through the eastern portion of Lord Baltimore's new patent. Lord Baltimore's new patent in America was called Maryland, named for Queen Henrietta Maria. Its area was defined "as all the peninsula east of Chesapeake Bay, and the land west of the bay from the fortieth degree of north latitude." This latitude was then the southern boundary of New England. The patent reached southward to the south bank of the Potomac River. Its westward direction went as far as the point of longitude at the source of the Potomac River. In plainer English, the boundaries of Lord Baltimore's patent, called Maryland, encompassed all of present-day Maryland, Delaware, the Delaware peninsula's southern tip which is now a part of Virginia. But that was not all of America that had been allotted into Calvert's keeping. His patent also included a strip of land some twenty miles wide that is now a part of Pennsylvania, as well as two western parcels of land that are now a part of West Virginia. Hopefully, George Calvert, now the first Lord Baltimore, had all that he desired. But, he did not have or hold it much longer. At the time, any patent that was granted had to pass the Great Seal, that is, receive final approval. The patent did receive approval in about June of 1632. It is hoped that George Calvert received the approval of an authority much higher than that of the King of England, as he died in April, two months before his patent received the Great Seal of approval. Recommended Reading: As the 16th century neared its end, England was busy preparing to conquer a new world, namely America. In 1583, England sent Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailing across the ocean to where he attempted to start a colony at New Foundland.
The copyright of the article Maryland for Lord Baltimore in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish Maryland for Lord Baltimore in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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