- Thomas Cornwallis
Thomas Cornwallis (c. 1605–1675), was one of the first Commissioners of the
Province of Maryland (Proprietary Colony ofMaryland ) and Captain of the colony’s military during the early years of settlement. In 1638, in a naval engagement with Virginian colonists, he captured Kent Island for Maryland.Thomas was probably the second son of Sir Charles Cornwallis of
Beeston, Norfolk (d. 1629), an ambassador and brother ofElizabeth Cornwallis and Sir William Cornwallis of Brome, the direct ancestor ofCharles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis . Thomas was the brother of the authorWilliam Cornwallis . As the second son, he could not hope to inherit his father’s land. The Cornwallis family wereRoman Catholic Recusants and thereforeGeorge Calvert ’s project of an autonomous colony in the New World for English Catholics appealed to him. In 1634 he accompaniedLeonard Calvert to what was then ‘Virginia’ and became a Commissioner to the Governor. This put him in a powerful advisory position to Leonard Calvert. In 1635 Cornwallis fought the Virginian colonistWilliam Claiborne over the jurisdiction of Kent Island, and captured it in 1638. In 1643 he defended the colony against a Native American attack. In 1644, however,Richard Ingle sailed intoChesapeake Bay with his ship "Reformation" and fired onSt. Mary’s City . Cornwallis’ land was occupied and many of the buildings he had constructed were destroyed. As a result of these losses and his loss of influence in the colony, Cornwallis returned to England, where he died at some point after4 March 1675 .Persondata
NAME= Cornwallis, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=One of the first Commissioners of theProvince of Maryland (Proprietary Colony ofMaryland )
DATE OF BIRTH=1605
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=1675
PLACE OF DEATH=
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.