Philip Calvert

(1626 – 1682)

 

The youngest son of the first Lord Baltimore, Philip Calvert came to Maryland in 1657 to restore the Calvert government.  He acted as governor for a year, quelled a rebellion and then became one of the key figures who built a workable government for the colony.  Philip served as Chancellor, Councilor, and Chief Judge of the Provincial Court among other offices.  He developed innovative orphan legislation and established the southern boundary of Maryland on the Eastern Shore.   His brother Cecil Calvert made Philip the first mayor of St. Mary’s City in 1668.  In the 1670s, Philip built the largest private brick home in the English colonies, named St. Peter’s.   His library indicates a highly educated man who read Latin and French, with diverse interests in astronomy, astrology, natural history, religion, poetry, and classical writers.   At his death in early 1682, Philip was buried in an elite manner within a lead coffin at the Brick Chapel.  Archaeologists identified his remains and that of his first wife Anne Wolsley Calvert in 1994.  In a significant way, Philip Calvert and his wife Anne represented the royalty of early Maryland.

 

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