Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, 23rd

Proprietary Governor A proprietary colony was a type of English colony mostly in North America and in the Caribbean in the 17th century. In the British Empire, all land belonged to the monarch, and it was his/her prerogative to divide. Therefore, all colonial propert ...

(14 September 1741 – 2 September 1784) was a British official and the last colonial Governor of

. Although a popular governor and an able administrator, Eden's authority was overthrown by the events of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, and in June 1776 he was invited by the Maryland Convention to leave for England. Eden was well-regarded at home and in the same year, 1776, he was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

. He eventually returned to Maryland where he died in 1784 at the age of 42. He was buried in

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, Frederick, a noted author.

Early life

Eden was born in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, England, on 14 September 1741, the second son of

Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

, of West Auckland, and the brother of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland and Morton Eden, 1st Baron Henley and a relative of North Carolina Governor Charles Eden.

Career

In 1763 Eden made an advantageous marriage, wedding Caroline Calvert, daughter of Maryland's proprietor

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, (29 September 1699 – 24 April 1751) was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland. He inherited the title to Maryland aged just fifteen, on the death of his father and gra ...

. In 1766 Caroline bore a son, Frederick. Three years later, in 1769, aged just 28, Robert Eden succeeded

Horatio Sharpe Horatio Sharpe (1718 – November 9, 1790) was the 22nd proprietary governor of Maryland from 1753 to 1768 under the restored proprietary government of Maryland. Early life Horatio Sharpe was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England in 1718 to ...

as Governor of Maryland, the highest office in the province. As governor, Eden would attempt to maintain authority over the increasingly rebellious province during the tumultuous years preceding the

Maryland and the American War of Independence

Eden was not among those who believed that coercion would force Marylanders into loyalty to the mother country. During the 1770s opposition to British taxation grew, and the governor's authority began to falter. On 19 April 1774 Eden was forced to prorogue the Colonial Assembly, the last occasion on which it would convene. From this point on the government of Maryland was increasingly in the hands of the Revolutionaries. On 19 October 1774 the '' Peggy Stewart'' was burned in

harbor in protest against taxes on tea, in imitation of the famous

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell t ...

, which took place on 16 December 1773. On 30 December 1774 Eden wrote: Although Eden had some sympathy with the colonists' grievances, he was firmly opposed to armed opposition to the Crown. In the event, Maryland was the only state that did not forcibly eject its last colonial governor from office, choosing instead a formal and largely courteous transfer of power. By 1775 Eden's authority had been effectively usurped by the Annapolis Convention and Eden was eventually asked by the

Maryland Council of Safety In the American Revolution, committees of correspondence, committees of inspection (also known as committees of observation), and committees of safety were different local committees of Patriots that became a shadow government; they took control ...

to step down as governor. The Maryland Convention had been pressed by the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

(and the Virginians in particular) to arrest and detain Eden but they demurred, preferring to avoid such an "extreme" measure. Instead they argued that: Eventually the Maryland Convention formally asked the governor to leave, and Governor Eden finally departed Maryland for England in the ship ''Fowey'' on 23 June 1776. He was created a baronet, of Maryland in North America, on 19 October 1776.

Family life

On 26 April 1763 Eden married Caroline Calvert, daughter of

, Retrieved August 2011 and in 1769 he succeeded Governor

Governor of Maryland The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...

. Caroline was half-sister to

Benedict Swingate Calvert 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 Mar ...

, a Judge of the Land office with whom Eden shared a love of horse racing.Yentsch, Anne E, p.264, ''A Chesapeake Family and their Slaves: a Study in Historical Archaeology'', Cambridge University Press (1994)
Retrieved Jan 2010 Benedict Swingate Calvert soon found himself appointed to the Governor's Council.Yentsch, Anne E, p.265, ''A Chesapeake Family and their Slaves: a Study in Historical Archaeology'', Cambridge University Press (1994)
Retrieved Jan 2010 His son Sir Frederick Morton Eden, 2nd Baronet, of Maryland (1766–1809) was a pioneering writer and the author of ''The State of the Poor'', published in 3 volumes in 1797. Coat of arms of Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland

Coat of arms of Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland

Death and legacy

Eden died on 2 September 1784 and was buried in Annapolis, Maryland. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, Frederick. Eden was an ancestor of the 20th century British Prime Minister

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

. The town of Denton, Maryland, originally Edenton or Eden Town, was named for him.

References

* Andrews, Matthew Page, ''History of Maryland'', Doubleday Doran & Co, New York, (1929) *

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eden, Robert American Loyalists from Maryland Colonial Governors of Maryland British officials in the American Revolution Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain 1741 births 1784 deaths

Robert Eden Robert Eden may refer to: *Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of West Auckland (c. 1644–1721), MP for County Durham * Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet, of West Auckland (died 1794) * Sir Robert Johnson-Eden, 5th Baronet, of West Auckland (1774–1844) * S ...

Younger sons of baronets