Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore

The Lord Baltimore
Portrait of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore by Sir Godfrey Kneller
6th and 9th Proprietary-Governor of Maryland
In office
1661–1676
Preceded byPhillip Calvert
Succeeded byJesse Wharton
In office
1679–1684
Preceded byThomas Notley
Succeeded byBenedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, (1679-1715)
Personal details
Born(1637-08-27)August 27, 1637
Salisbury, England
DiedFebruary 21, 1715(1715-02-21) (aged 77)
St Pancras, London, England
Spouse(s)Mary Darnall
Jane Lowe
Mary Bankes
Margaret Charleton
ChildrenBenedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore
Capt. Charles Calvert (illegitimate) Mary Calvert
Parent(s)Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Anne Arundell
Signature

Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore (August 27, 1637 – February 21, 1715) was an English peer and colonial administrator. He inherited the province of Maryland in 1675 upon the death of his father, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. He had been his father's Deputy Governor since 1661 when he arrived in the colony at the age of 24. However, Charles left Maryland for England in 1684 and would never return. The events following the Glorious Revolution in England in 1688 would cost Calvert his title to Maryland; in 1689 the royal charter to the colony was withdrawn, leading to direct rule by the British Crown. Calvert's political problems were largely caused by his Roman Catholic faith which was at odds with the established Church of England.

Calvert married four times, outliving three wives, and had at least two children. He died in England in 1715 at the age of 78, his family fortunes much diminished. With his death he passed his title, and his claim to Maryland, to his second son Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore (1679–1715), his eldest son Cecil having died young. However, Benedict Calvert would outlive his father by just two months, and it would fall to Charles' grandson, Charles (1699–1751), who converted to the Anglican faith, to see the family proprietorship in the Province of Maryland restored by the king.