Christopher Lowndes
Encyclopedia
Christopher Lowndes was a leading merchant in colonial Bladensburg
Bladensburg, Maryland
Bladensburg is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 7,661 at the 2000 census.Bladensburg is from central Washington, DC...

, Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....

. He was named Commissioner of the town of Bladensburg in 1745, and in 1753 he was appointed one of the justices of Prince George's County, holding both offices until his death in 1785.

Biography

Christopher Lowndes was the fifth son of Richard Lowndes of Bostock House in Hassall, Cheshire, England
Hassall Green
Hassall Green is a village in the civil parish of Betchton in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England....

 and Margaret Poole. He was baptized at Sandbach
Sandbach
Sandbach is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements; Sandbach itself, Elworth, Ettiley Heath and Wheelock....

 on June 19, 1713. As early as 1738, he was living in Prince George's County, Maryland. In 1748, he was the senior partner in the firm of Christopher Lowndes and Company operating both in Maryland and in England. Christopher Lowndes was one of the Justices of Prince George's County from 1753 to 1775, and was of the Quorum from 1769. On June 4, 1777 he was commissioned under the new State government one of the Justices of the county and Judge of the Orphans Court. He died at Bladensburg on January 8, 1785. He was buried at St. Matthew's Church
St. Matthew's Church (Seat Pleasant, Maryland)
St. Matthew's Church, also known as Addison Chapel, is a historic Episcopal church located at Seat Pleasant, Prince George's County, Maryland. Although the current chapel was built about 1809, its simple Anglican styling reflects the Colonial-era, Church of England-influenced designs, of which few...

, Seat Pleasant, Maryland
Seat Pleasant, Maryland
Seat Pleasant is an incorporated city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States immediately east of Washington D.C. The population was 4,885 at the 2000 census. Two state highways run through it — Maryland Route 704 and Maryland Route 214...

.

Family

On May 14, 1747, Lowndes married Elizabeth Tasker (February 4, 1726-September 19, 1789), daughter of Benjamin Tasker, Sr., President of the Council of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...

, at St. Anne's Parish
St. Anne's Church (Annapolis, Maryland)
St. Anne's Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal church located in Church Circle, Annapolis. The first church in Annapolis, it was founded in 1692 to serve as the parish church for the newly created Middle Neck Parish, one of the original 30 Anglican parishes in the Province of Maryland.-First...

 in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

. They had nine children, and their daughter Rebecca Lowndes (1757-February 10, 1802) was married on June 17, 1781 to Benjamin Stoddert
Benjamin Stoddert
Benjamin Stoddert was the first United States Secretary of the Navy from May 1, 1798 to March 31, 1801.-Early life:...

 (1751-1813), first Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...

 of the United States. His great-grandson, Lloyd Lowndes, Jr.
Lloyd Lowndes, Jr.
Lloyd Lowndes, Jr. , a member of the United States Republican Party, was the 43rd Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1896 to 1900 and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the sixth district of Maryland from 1873 to 1875...

 (1845-1905) was a U.S. congressman and Governor of Maryland
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...

 from 1896 to 1900.

Legacy

Lowndes home at Bladensburg, known as Bostwick
Bostwick (Bladensburg, Maryland)
Bostwick is a historic home located at Bladensburg in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. According to its date plaque, it was built in 1746 by Christopher Lowndes . The house was later the home of Lowndes’ son-in-law, Benjamin Stoddert , first Secretary of the Navy. Colonel Thomas H....

, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1975.

External links

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