Anne Arundell Calvert, Lady Baltimore (Public Domain)
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There are no pictures of Lady Grace Calvert Talbot online that I can find. It may be because the Carton Talbots lost their lands and property in the 1650's when Sir Robert fought against Oliver Cromwell during the latter's Irish invasion which was infamous for its brutality. The Irish were defeated; portraits could have been lost or destroyed, especially when all the furniture was confiscated by the English.
The above portrait is of Lady Grace's sister-in-law, Anne Lady Baltimore, wife of Cecil Calvert, for whom Anne Arundel County is named. Lady Grace was about the same age and would have worn similar costume and hairstyle. Why Cecil named a county after her I am still wondering. He had other sisters for whom nothing was named. Perhaps Cecil was particularly fond of Grace, I do not know; I will keep searching. It may have been more to honor her husband than to honor her since Robert Talbot was a brave man who lost everything fighting for his king and for his faith. Perhaps Cecil knew that Grace would want her husband honored in such a manner. And of course, what her husband suffered, she suffered as well. Likewise, to honor him was to honor her, and vice versa.
We left off with Cecil Calvert receiving the charter in June of 1632 from King Charles I for the new colony of Mary's Land, named for Charles' consort Queen Henrietta Maria, called "Queen Mary" by the English people. As the Avalon colony was foundering, George Calvert sent his children back to Ireland and England. It was then, in 1628, that Cecil contracted a marriage with Anne Arundell, also from a devout Catholic family, a family who, like the Talbots, eventually had their property confiscated by Oliver Cromwell. Since the bride was only about 12 or 13, it is likely that the marriage was not solemnized and consummated until later; at any rate, their first child, Charles Calvert, 3rd Lord Baltimore, was born in 1637. They had nine children, four of whom lived to adulthood. Anne was said to be a great beauty, educated and accomplished. Cecil, being a Catholic, could not study at Oxford, so instead he prepared at Gray's Inn to become a lawyer while Anne's father gave them a manor house in the country. Anne Arundell, Lady Baltimore, died in her early 30's in 1649.
Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, with his eldest son Charles, holding a map of Maryland.
The Maryland Charter began with the following words:
Charles, by the Grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, king, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all to whom these Presents come, Greeting.
Whereas our well beloved and right trusty Subject Caecilius Calvert, Baron of Baltimore, in our Kingdom of Ireland, Son and Heir of George Calvert, Knight, late Baron of Baltimore, in our said Kingdom of Ireland, treading in the steps of his Father, being animated with a laudable, and pious Zeal for extending the Christian Religion, and also the Territories of our Empire, hath humbly besought Leave of us, that he may transport, by his own Industry, and Expense, a numerous Colony of the English Nation, to a certain Region, herein after described, in a Country hitherto uncultivated, in the Parts of America, and partly occupied by Savages, having no knowledge of the Divine Being, and that all that Region, with some certain Privileges, and Jurisdiction, appertaining unto the wholesome Government, and State of his Colony and Region aforesaid, may by our Royal Highness be given, granted and confirmed unto him, and his Heirs.
Cecil sent his younger brother Leonard Calvert to establish the new "county palatinate" of Mary's Land. Accompanied by the Jesuit Father Andrew White, Leonard and two hundred and twenty other settlers sailed from England in the two ships, the Ark and the Dove, which had belonged to Cecil and Leonard's father, in which he had fought off the French in Newfoundland. The ships landed at St. Clement's Island in southern Maryland on March 25, 1634, the feast of the Annunciation. The first Catholic Mass in the original colonies was offered there.
What followed was one of the most peaceable colonial interactions with the Native Americans on record. Leonard Calvert bought land from the Yaocomico tribe, with whom the colonists became friendly. In 1639, after Fr. White healed the son of Chief Kittamaquund of the Piscataway tribe, the Chief and his family were baptized Catholic. The Chief took the name “Charles” in honor of Charles I, his wife was “Henrietta Maria” and their daughter became “Mary,” known in history as “Princess Mary of Maryland.” Mary was educated by Catholic settler Margaret Brent and married Margaret’s brother Giles Brent. Their descendants can be traced to the present day. Leonard married Ann Brent, Margaret and Giles' sister. Leonard became the first Governor of Maryland and in 1635 summoned the first colonial assembly, the origins of the Maryland General Assembly.
The first “sea” battle occurred in the Chesapeake Bay in 1638 between the Calverts and a Puritan named William Claiborne. A village in Talbot County, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay was named for Claiborne. Claiborne was trying to claim Kent Island for the Virginia Colony. Charles I, however, gave Kent Island to the Calverts as part of Maryland. In 1644, during the English Civil Wars, Claiborne led an uprising against the Calverts which eventually led to them being driven out of Maryland, while the penal laws of England were imposed on Catholic Marylanders. The Catholic Church had to go underground, which it did until American Independence was finally won in 1783. Meanwhile, St. Mary’s City, the original capital of Maryland, was burned by Claiborne. The capital was eventually moved to a place called “Providence” but renamed “Annapolis” after Queen Anne, the Protestant granddaughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria.
Lady Grace Calvert Talbot died in 1672. Some sources say she came to Mary's Land and died there but others say she died and was buried in London. Her husband Robert Talbot died shortly before she did, after having his lands restored by King Charles II. Their daughter Frances married one of her Irish Talbot cousins. Cecil never married again. He died in 1675, and was succeeded by his oldest son Charles, who became an Anglican to make life easier. He became the first Lord Baltimore to live in Maryland and to govern his colony from Annapolis.
