ANNAPOLIS, Md. — On Aug. 10, 1716, Maryland lawmakers ended a General Assembly session that marked a major change in the colony’s government, with 12 delegates from what is now Southern Maryland helping represent St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles counties during the historic proceedings.
The session, which ran from July 17 through Aug. 10, was the first General Assembly session held after the English Crown restored Maryland’s proprietary government to the Calvert family following roughly 25 years of direct royal control, according to records preserved by the Maryland State Archives.
Southern Maryland held a significant presence in the Lower House.
St. Mary’s County was represented by Thomas Trueman Greenfield, Henry Peregrine Jowles, John Baker and Thomas Wayhop. Calvert County’s delegation consisted of John Mackall, Nathaniel Dare, John Rousby and William Young. Charles County sent Phillip Hoskins, Thomas Dent, John Fendall and Samuel Hanson.
The records show that Maryland counties were instructed to elect four representatives each to the Lower House. Annapolis was permitted to elect two representatives. The Assembly met in Annapolis, which had replaced St. Mary’s City as Maryland’s capital in the previous century.
The Aug. 10 conclusion carried particular historical significance.
The Lower House journal recorded that the proceedings brought to an end the first session held after the king restored the proprietor’s authority over Maryland. Gov. John Hart prorogued the Assembly until Oct. 10 after lawmakers completed the session’s remaining business.
The political transition behind the session stretched back decades.
Maryland had been established as a proprietary colony under the Calvert family, but political upheaval following England’s Glorious Revolution resulted in the family losing governmental control of the province. Maryland came under direct royal government beginning in the late 17th century.
Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore, retained ownership interests but lost the authority to govern Maryland. His son, Benedict Leonard Calvert, later converted from Catholicism to Anglicanism, removing a major religious objection to restoring the family’s governmental authority.
Benedict Leonard died in 1715, shortly after succeeding his father. His son, Charles Calvert, became the fifth Lord Baltimore while still a minor. King George I restored full proprietary rights to the younger Charles, returning Maryland to the political system under which the Calvert proprietor exercised authority over the colony.
Maryland State Archives records describe the transition as the end of approximately 25 years of royal government. Hart, who had already been serving as governor, remained in office under a commission from the restored proprietor.
The restored government was proclaimed in Maryland in December 1715, setting the stage for the General Assembly that followed in 1716.
For Southern Maryland, the Assembly illustrates the political influence the region continued to hold during the colonial period.
St. Mary’s County was the center of Maryland’s earliest European settlement and had been home to the colony’s original capital at St. Mary’s City. Charles and Calvert counties had also been established well before the 1716 session. Charles County was created in 1658, while Calvert County was among the counties represented in the Assembly system that developed during the 17th century.
The surviving legislative records provide a detailed look at what occupied lawmakers in 1716.
Among the measures recorded near the end of the session were bills dealing with court procedures, sheriffs’ handling and sale of property taken to satisfy judgments, protection and repair of government records, public security and the collection of the 1716 public levy.
One measure addressed damage to records kept by Maryland’s land, secretary, commissary and county court offices and sought to provide greater security for government records in the future. Another dealt with practices used by sheriffs when taking and selling property under court orders.
The final day was not ceremonial.
Records from Aug. 10 show both houses continuing to exchange messages, review legislative business and consider government expenses and fees before the session ended. The Lower House journal records messages between legislators concerning officers’ fees, the public levy and other unfinished matters.
The Assembly’s proceedings also demonstrate how different colonial government was from Maryland government today. Political authority ultimately rested with the proprietor and the English Crown, while voting and eligibility to hold office were restricted and did not extend to most people living in the colony.
The society represented by the Assembly was also one in which slavery was legally established and deeply connected to Maryland’s political and economic system. Earlier Maryland laws had made slavery hereditary and lifelong, while political participation was largely restricted to property-holding men.
That context is important when examining the role of early lawmakers. The delegates from Southern Maryland represented their counties in government, but they did not represent the population under anything resembling modern universal suffrage.
Still, the names preserved in the 1716 journals provide a direct connection between present-day Southern Maryland and decisions being made more than three centuries ago.
On Aug. 10, 1716, representatives from St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles counties were in Annapolis as Maryland completed the first legislative session of its restored proprietary government.
Three hundred and ten years later, the surviving records of that session remain preserved by the Maryland State Archives, offering a detailed look at Southern Maryland’s place in the political life of colonial Maryland.
