Friday, July 7, 2023

Lady Charlotte Lee's Baptism

Over the past several months I have been studying the life of Lady Charlotte Lee Calvert Crowe (1678-1721), my sixth great-grandmother, also known as Lady Baltimore.  She was the granddaughter of King Charles II of England (1630-1685) and his mistress Barbara Villier Palmer (1640-1709), the Duchess of Cleveland, and the daughter of Charlotte Fitzroy Lee (1664-1718) and Edward Henry Lee (1677-1716), the Duchess and Duke of Litchfield. 

King Charles II and Barbara Villier Palmer, the Duchess of Cleveland
Courtesy of Wikipedia


The Earl and Countess of Litchfield 
Courtesy of Wikipedia

According to The Complete Peerage (2nd ed.), Lady Charlotte Lee Calvert Crowe was born at St. James Park on March 13, 1678, although her baptism is recorded as being on the same date:

Page from Baptismal Record from St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, England, from Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1934,
Courtesy of Ancestry

"Charlotte Lee, D. to Edward Henry, Earle of Leichfeild by Dame Charlotte"
at the bottom of the page
Courtesy of Ancestry

Charlotte Lee Calvert Crowe would become the mother of Charles Calvert (1699-1751), Lord Baltimore, who worked to re-establish the pre-revolutionary Maryland Colony; Benedict Leonard Calvert the younger (1700-1732) Governor of Maryland; and Edward Henry Calvert (1701-1730) Commissary General of Maryland.  She was also the great-grandmother of Eleanor Calvert (1753-1811) who married John Parke Custis (1754-1781), who was Martha Custis Washington's son and George Washington's step-son.  George and Martha Washington raised Charlotte's great-great grandchildren Eleanor Parke Custis (1779-1852) and George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857) at their Mt. Vernon estate.  I've written about her grandson, Benedict Swingate Calvert, in the previous posting.

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