The Ark (ship)

The Ark, shown here in a 1934 postage stamp.
Career	England
Name:	The Ark
Owner:	Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Launched:	c1730
General characteristics
Propulsion:	Sail

The Ark was a 17th century ship which carried passengers bound for the Maryland colony during the pioneering 1634 expedition to St. Mary's City. Her sister ship, the Dove, carried supplies for the expedition, and was lost at sea in 1635. A modern replica of the Dove was built on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in 1975, using 17th-century tools and methods, and can still be visited today.

Contents 1 Maryland colony 1.1 Passengers 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links

Maryland colony

The first expedition from England to the planned colony of Maryland was undertaken by Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, and consisted of two ships that had formerly belonged to Baltimore's father, the Ark and the Dove.^[1] The two ships originally sailed from Gravesend with 128 settlers on board ship but were brought back to England by the Royal Navy 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 to collect more settlers,^[1] including two Jesuit priests and almost two hundred further settlers, before sailing for Maryland.^[2] Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore sent instructions for the governance of the colony.^[3] The instructions also emphasized the importance of religious toleration among the colonists, who were nearly equal parts Catholic and Protestant.^[3] 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. The ships arrived at Point Comfort at the mouths of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth Rivers, in Virginia, 24 February, 1634. On 27 March they landed at what is now St. Mary's, then the site of a Native American village, and they began the work of establishing a settlement there.^[4] The settlement of St. Mary's was built on land purchased from the native Yaocomico.^[5]

Passengers

Among the passengers on board The Ark was Leonard Calvert (1606-1647), who would be the first Governor of the Province of Maryland.^[6] He was the second son of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. His elder brother Cecil, who inherited the colony and the title, appointed Leonard governor in his absence.^[7]

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 in 1975, using 17th-century tools and methods.^[8]

See also

• Province of Maryland

Notes

References

• Browne, William Hand (1890). George Calvert and Cecilius Calvert: Barons Baltimore of Baltimore. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.
• Chapelle, Suzanne Ellery Greene, Maryland: A History of Its People Retrieved August 6 2010
• Russell, Donna Valley and George Ely, The Ark and the Dove Adventurers Retrieved August 6 2010

External links

• Maryland Dove facts page Retrieved August 4 2010
• showing a photo of the Dove Retrieved August 4 2010
• The Dove at riverexplorer.com Retrieved August 4 2010
• The Ark at www.seakayak.ws Retrieved August 6 2010