The Ark (ship)
Encyclopedia
The Ark was a 17th century ship which carried passengers bound for the Maryland colony during the pioneering 1634 expedition. The settlers began a permanent settlement in a shared Indian village south of St. Clement's Island and named it St. Mary's. The Ark eventually returned to England leaving the Dove
Maryland Dove
The Maryland Dove is a re-creation of a late 17th-century trading ship. She was designed by the naval architect and naval historian William A. Baker....
behind to provide transportation for goods to be traded up and down the Atlantic seacoast. The following year the Dove headed back to England but she never arrived and was presumed lost at sea.
A modern replica of the Dove was built on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
in 1975, using 17th-century tools and methods, and can still be visited today.
Maryland colony
The first expedition from England to the planned colony of MarylandMaryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
was undertaken by Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland , was an English peer who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, the...
, and consisted of two ships that had formerly belonged to Baltimore's father, the Ark and the Dove
Maryland Dove
The Maryland Dove is a re-creation of a late 17th-century trading ship. She was designed by the naval architect and naval historian William A. Baker....
. The two ships originally sailed from Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
with 128 settlers on board ship but were brought back to England by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in order that the settlers might take an oath of allegiance to the King. The oath sworn, they sailed again in October of 1632 for the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
to collect more settlers, including two Jesuit priests and almost two hundred further settlers, before sailing for Maryland.
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland , was an English peer who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, the...
sent instructions for the governance of the colony. The instructions also emphasized the importance of religious toleration among the colonists, who were nearly equal parts Catholic and Protestant. With these last instructions, the expedition sailed for the Americas.
The ships were initially separated at sea, but were reunited six weeks later at Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. The ships arrived at Point Comfort at the mouths of the James
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
, Nansemond
Nansemond River
The Nansemond River is a tributary of the James River in the U.S. state of Virginia. The Nansemond River Bridge crosses the river near its mouth. Both it and the former State Route 125 bridge, demolished in 2008, were once toll bridges. The river begins at the outlet of Lake Meade north of...
, and Elizabeth River
Elizabeth River (Virginia)
The Elizabeth River is a tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States. It is located along the southern side of the mouth of the James River, between the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk...
s, in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, 24 February, 1634. On 27 March they landed at what is now St. Mary's
St. Mary's City, Maryland
St. Mary's City, in St. Mary's County, Maryland, is a small unincorporated community near the southernmost end of the state on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is located on the eastern shore of the St. Mary's River, a tributary of the Potomac. St. Mary's City is the fourth oldest...
, then the site of a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
village, and they began the work of establishing a settlement there. The settlement of St. Mary's
St. Mary's City, Maryland
St. Mary's City, in St. Mary's County, Maryland, is a small unincorporated community near the southernmost end of the state on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is located on the eastern shore of the St. Mary's River, a tributary of the Potomac. St. Mary's City is the fourth oldest...
was built on land purchased from the native Yaocomico
Yaocomico
The Yaocomico, or Yaocomaco, were an Algonquian-speaking Native American group who lived along the north bank of the Potomac River near its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay in the 17th century...
.
Passengers
Among the passengers on board The Ark and Dove were Leonard CalvertLeonard Calvert
Leonard Calvert was the 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland. He was the second son of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, the first proprietary of the Province of Maryland...
(1606-1647) and Thomas Greene; the first two governors
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,...
of the Province 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...
. Leonard Calvert was the second son of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore
George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore
Sir George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, 8th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland was an English politician and colonizer. He achieved domestic political success as a Member of Parliament and later Secretary of State under King James I...
, the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. His elder brother Cecil
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland , was an English peer who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, the...
, who inherited the colony and the title, appointed Leonard governor in his absence.
In August 1635, the Dove sailed for England carrying timber and beaver pelts, but she never arrived home and was presumed lost in a storm.
The modern replica of the Dove was built on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
in 1975, using 17th-century tools and methods.
External links
- Maryland Dove facts page Retrieved February 23 2011
- showing a photo of the Dove Retrieved February 23 2011
- The Dove at riverexplorer.com Retrieved August 4 2010
- The Ark at www.seakayak.ws Retrieved August 6 2010