Thomas Bladen (23 February 1698 – 2 February 1780) was a colonial governor in North America and politician who sat in the British House of Commons between 1727 and 1741. He served as the 19th

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 ...

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 to ...

from 1742 to 1747.

Early life

Bladen was born in Maryland in 1698, the eldest son of William Bladen (1672–1718) of Annapolis, who came to Maryland in 1690, and his wife Anne Van Swearingen. Among his siblings was Anne Bladen (wife of Benjamin Tasker Sr., also a Governor of Maryland). Thomas was the grandson of Nathaniel Bladen (an attorney who was steward to

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, (20 February 1632 – 26 July 1712), was a prominent English politician. Under King Charles II (and known at the time as Lord Danby), he was the leading figure in the government for around five years i ...

) and Isabella Fairfax (daughter of Sir William Fairfax of Steeton). He was the nephew of Colonel

Martin Bladen Colonel Martin Bladen (1680–1746) was a British politician who sat in the Irish House of Commons from 1713 to 1727 and in the British House of Commons from 1715 to 1746. He was a Commissioner of the Board of Trade and Plantations, a Privy Counc ...

, Commissioner of the Board of Trade and Plantations. Bladen travelled early to England in 1712, where he was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

. He disposed of his Maryland property on his father's death in 1718.

Political career

Bladen was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the coastal town of Shoreham-by-Sea. The smaller ...

at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trig ...

by the Duke of Chandos at the request of his uncle Martin Bladen. He voted with the Government. At the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

he stood for parliament at Amersham, where he was defeated then and at a by-election in February 1735. He was returned as MP for Ashburton at another by-election on 20 February 1735. He was defeated at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

. He also saw military service as a colonel.

Life in Maryland

In 1742, Bladen returned to Maryland as provincial Governor, on the recommendation of his brother-in-law, Lord Baltimore. He was the first governor to be born in the Province. He also served as surveyor general, Western Shore, 1742–1746, and chancellor, 1742–1746/47. While governor, he concluded a peace with the Six Nations. ''A history of Anne Arundel County in Maryland: adapted for use in the schools of the county''
by Elihu Samuel Riley, C.G. Feldmeyer, 1905. He negotiated with

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

authorities for the settlement of the Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary. Upon his arrival in Maryland, the Legislature awarded him £4,000 to build himself a residence, which was £1,000 more than his predecessor. In 1744, he bought of land in Annapolis from Stephen Bordley and commenced construction of a building, now McDowell Hall, St. John's College, as a governor's residence. He quickly disagreed with the Legislature about its architecture and became involved in a lawsuit with Bordley, the previous owner, and construction halted. While as governor in Maryland in 1744, Bladen organized the first ice cream social in the United States. The social was organized while at a dinner party. Bladen quickly became an unpopular Governor and was dismissed from office by October 1746 because he was "tactless and quarrelsome". He returned to England in 1746, when he was succeeded by

Samuel Ogle Samuel Ogle (c. 1694 – 3 May 1752) was the 16th, 18th and 20th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1731 to 1732, 1733 to 1742, and 1746/1747 to 1752. Background The Ogle family was quite prominent for many centuries in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, ...

- husband of his niece Anne Tasker. Ogle had been Governor prior to Bladen's arrival in Maryland.

Personal life

In 1731, he married Barbara Janssen in England. She was a daughter of

Sir Theodore Janssen, 1st Baronet Sir Theodore Janssen of Wimbledon, 1st Baronet (1650s, Angoulême, France – 22 September 1748, Wimbledon, London) was a French-born English financier and member of parliament who, after a long and successful career in commerce, was ruined and d ...

and the former Williamza Henley. Through her sister Mary Janssen, she was a sister-in-law of

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 ...

and Proprietor of the Province, and aunt to Caroline Calvert Eden (wife of Governor

Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland, 23rd Proprietary Governor of Maryland (14 September 1741 – 2 September 1784) was a British official and the last colonial Governor of Maryland. Although a popular governor and an able administrator, E ...

). Soon after his marriage he acquired the

Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It w ...

estate from the Duke of Devonshire for £12,700, reportedly after beating him at dice. Together, they were the parents of two daughter: * Barbara Bladen (1733–1821), who married Gen. The Hon. Henry St John (1738–1818), MP and brother of

Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, 3rd Viscount St John (21 December 1732 – 5 May 1787), was a British Viscount and landowner. His father was John St John, 2nd Viscount St John, half-brother of Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke ...

, in 1771. * Harriet Bladen (1735–1821), who married

William Capell, 4th Earl of Essex William Anne Holles Capell, 4th Earl of Essex (7 October 1732 – 4 March 1799), was a British landowner and peer, a member of the House of Lords. Early life Capell was born on 7 October 1732 in Turin. He was the son of William Capell, 3rd Earl o ...

(1732–1799), becoming the Countess of Essex and the ancestress of the 6th and subsequent earls. Bladen lived at

Leyton Grange Leyton Grange, in Leyton, east London, is the second most deprived area of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It include an estate that consists of a 10-storey tower and ten 4-storey courts owned by Forest Homes (see list below). Leyton Grang ...

in England where he died in 1780 and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's Leyton. Bladen's wife Barbara, who had a life interest in Glastonbury, died in 1783 and their heirs were their daughters Barbara and Harriet who sold the whole estate in 1799.

Legacy

The Governor's residence sat uncompleted until 1766 when the roof collapsed. The building now serves as the central hall of St. John's College and is named McDowell Hall. The nickname for McDowell Hall is "Bladen's Folly". The town of

Bladensburg, Maryland Bladensburg is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland. The population was 9,657 at the 2020 census. Areas in Bladensburg are located within ZIP code 20710. Bladensburg is from central Washington. History Originally called Garrison's Landi ...

, which was incorporated in the first year of his governorship as Garrison's Landing, was renamed after him.

References

External links

*
Biography at Virtualology.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bladen, Thomas 1698 births 1780 deaths Colonial Governors of Maryland Colonial politicians from Maryland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Ashburton British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 American emigrants to England