Benedict Swingate Calvert

Benedict Swingate Calvert
Portrait by John Wollaston, 1754
Judge of the Land Office
In office
1755 – May 13, 1777
Succeeded bySt George Peale
Personal details
BornJanuary 27, 1722
England
DiedJanuary 9, 1788(1788-01-09) (aged 65)
Maryland
SpouseElizabeth Calvert
Children13, including:
Eleanor Calvert
George Calvert
ParentCharles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore (father)
ResidenceMount Airy Mansion
Occupationplanter, politician

Benedict Swingate Calvert (January 27, 1722 – January 9, 1788) was a planter, politician and a Loyalist in Maryland during the American Revolution. He was the son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, the third Proprietor Governor of Maryland (1699–1751). His mother's identity is not known, though one source speculates that she was Melusina von der Schulenburg, Countess of Walsingham. As he was illegitimate, he was not able to inherit his father's title or estates, which passed instead to his half brother Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore (1731–1771). Benedict Calvert spent most of his life as a politician, judge and planter in Maryland, though Frederick, by contrast, never visited the colony. Calvert became wealthy through proprietarial patronage and became an important colonial official, but he would lose his offices and his political power, though not his land and wealth, during the American Revolution.