Lady Grace Talbot

 

British (English) School; Lady Grace Talbot (1562-after 1625), Mrs Henry Cavendish; National Trust, Hardwick Hall (Public Domain)

From The Easton Gazette, Part 1:

Lady Grace Calvert Talbot is the lady for whom Talbot County, Maryland is named. The above portrait of Lady Grace Talbot Cavendish, daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury and wife of Henry Cavendish, has sometimes been mistaken for that of Lady Grace Calvert Talbot (1611 - 1672), daughter of the 1st Lord Baltimore and wife of Robert Talbot, 1st Baronet Talbot of Carton in Ireland.

Notice the lion of the Talbots behind her. The lion was the heraldic symbol of the English Talbots as well as of the Irish Talbots, and there were many branches of the Irish Talbots. There appear to be no pictures of Lady Grace online. Perhaps in some old castle or mansion in County Kildare there is a portrait of her. (If anyone can find one, please let me know.) There is little available about her life and nothing about why her brother Cecil Calvert named Talbot County after her. Cecil had eleven brothers and sisters and Grace was not close to him in age. Some sources say she came to Mary's Land and died there but others say she died and was buried in London.

George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, Lady Grace's father (Public Domain)

At any rate, someone should make a movie about the Calverts and their adventures in the New World. The adventures began with George Calvert (1580-1632) of Kiplin Hall in Yorkshire, the future 1st Lord Baltimore. Born into a devout Catholic family, the Calverts were so devout they were often in trouble with the law, which prohibited the practice of the Catholic Faith. His mother had been from the ancient family of Crosland, whose heraldic symbol was the cross. The Calverts later combined both coats of arms when they became the Lords Baltimore.

Calvert Coat of Arms (Public Domain)

Crosland Coat of Arms (Public Domain)

In 1604 George Calvert married Anne Mynne. By this time he had studied law and languages at Oxford. In order to study at Oxford one had to conform to the state religion of Anglicanism and George did so, although it is thought he may have secretly continued to be a Catholic. At any rate, he was married in the Anglican church and all his children were baptized Anglican. George traveled abroad as a young man and with his knowledge of law and languages he was sent on diplomatic missions by the new Stuart King James I. King James was known to favor handsome young men but in George Calvert's case his genuine diplomatic finesse earned him the royal trust and royal regard. (Read more.)

From The Easton Gazette, Part 2:

Anne Arundell Calvert, Lady Baltimore (Public Domain)

As discussed in Part 1, Lady Grace Calvert Talbot is the lady for whom Talbot County is named, the red lion being the heraldic symbol of the Talbots, the family of her husband, Robert Talbot, Baronet of Carton in County Kildare.

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. (Read more.) 

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