Robert Goldsborough (December 3, 1733 – December 22, 1788) was an American lawyer and statesman from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

. He served as a delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

Early life

Robert Goldsborough was the son of Elizabeth (née Ennalls) and Charles Goldsborough. and was born on the family estate ''(Horns Point)'' at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Dorchester County Dorchester County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Dorchester County, Maryland Dorchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 census, the population was 32,531. Its county seat is Cambridge ...

Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an Kingdom of England, English and later British Empire, British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in American Revolution, rebellion ag ...

on December 3, 1733. His father owned over 10,000 acres (40 km²) of land, and became a member of the Governor's Council in 1760. As a young man Robert travelled to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to study law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

and graduated in December 1752, where he was admitted to the bar in February 1757. He remained there practicing law as a Barrister until 1759 when he returned to America. He attended the Philadelphia College ''(now the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

)'', and graduated in 1760 before resuming the practice of law in Cambridge, Maryland.

Personal life

Goldsborough married Sarah Yerbury on March 27, 1755 in England. He had eleven children: Charles, Charles, John,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, William, Richard, Howes, Rebecca, Sarah, Elizabeth and Rachel. His son, Robert Henry Goldsborough, would also become a senator in Maryland.

Career

Goldsborough was the sheriff of Dorchester County from 1761 to 1764. He began his service in the Maryland Assembly in 1765, and served as the colony's Attorney General from 1766 to 1768. He became active in the protests that led to the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, joining Maryland's ''"Committee of Safety"''. In 1774 he was sent as a delegate to the

, where he served until May 1776. Later that year he attended the Convention that drafted Maryland's first state constitution. Under the new state constitution, he was elected to the first Maryland Senate in 1777. Robert narrowly missed two chances to be listed formally as one of the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...

. He withdrew from the Continental Congress six weeks before the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

to return home and work towards Maryland's first constitution. In 1787, he was selected as a representative to attend the U.S. Constitutional Convention, but didn't attend due to poor health. He died the following year at home at Horns Point, and is buried in the Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery in Cambridge, Maryland. He was elected posthumously to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1791.

Death

Goldsborough died on December 22, 1788 in Dorchester County. He was buried at Cambridge Court in Dorchester County.

References

External links

*
Robert Goldsborough
at the Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series) {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsborough, Robert 1733 births 1788 deaths Continental Congressmen from Maryland 18th-century American politicians People from Dorchester County, Maryland University of Pennsylvania alumni Members of the American Philosophical Society Goldsborough family Maryland state senators Maryland lawyers