Charlotte Lee, Lady Baltimore (23 March 1678, (13 March 1678 OS) – 1 February 1721, (22 January 1721 OS), was an English noblewoman, and granddaughter of King

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

and his mistress

Barbara Villiers Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine ( ; – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of England, by whom she ...

. She married in 1699, Benedict Leonard Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, from whom she separated in 1705; she later married Christopher Crowe. She was the mother of

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, (29 September 1699 – 24 April 1751) was a British politician and colonial administrator who served as the proprietary governor of the Province of Maryland. He inherited the title to Maryland aged just f ...

, and of Benedict Leonard Calvert, who was Governor of Maryland from 1727 to 1731.

Early life

Lady Charlotte Lee was born on 13 March 1678 at St. James's Park, St. James,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

.ThePeerage.com.pp.7641.#76403 She was the eldest of at least fourteen children of

Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield (4 February 1663 – 14 July 1716) was an English peer, the son of a baronet, who at 14 years of age married one of the illegitimate daughters of King Charles II, Charlotte Lee, prior to which he was ma ...

(4 February 1663 – 14 July 1716) and Lady Charlotte Fitzroy (5 September 1664 – 17 February 1718), illegitimate daughter of King Charles II by his mistress Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, Duchess of Cleveland. Lady Charlotte's mother was thirteen years old at the time of her birth, having married the Earl of Lichfield at the age of twelve. Her father was also only fifteen at the time of her birth. Her paternal grandparents were Sir Francis Henry Lee of Ditchley, 4th Baronet of Quarendon and Elizabeth Pope, daughter of Thomas Pope, 2nd Earl of Downe.

Marriage to Lord Baltimore

On 2 January 1699, at the age of twenty, she married her first husband Benedict Calvert, son of

Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore (August 27, 1637 – February 21, 1715) was an English colonial administrator. He inherited the province of Maryland in 1675 upon the death of his father, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. He had been his ...

and Jane Lowe. Charlotte assumed the title of Lady Baltimore in February 1715, when her husband succeeded to the title of 4th Baron Baltimore upon the death of his father, the third Baron Baltimore. The title of

Proprietary Governor Proprietary colonies were a type of colony in English America which existed during the early modern period. In English overseas possessions established from the 17th century onwards, all land in the colonies belonged to the Crown, which held ul ...

of the

Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an Kingdom of England, English and later British colonization of the Americas, British colony in North America from 1634 until 1776, when the province was one of the Thirteen Colonies that joined in supporting the A ...

had been lost to the third Baron during the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

and would be restored to Charles Calvert, the son of Charlotte and Benedict, upon the latter's death on 16 April 1715. Charlotte and Lord Baltimore had six children: *

, 18th Proprietor Governor of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, FRS (29 September 1699 – 24 April 1751), married Mary Janssen, daughter of Sir Theodore Janssen, 1st Baronet Janssen and Williamsa Henley,ThePeerage.com by whom he had three children, including

Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore (6 February 1731 – 4 September 1771), styled The Hon. Frederick Calvert until 1751, was a British landowner who was the last Baron Baltimore. Although he exercised almost feudal power in the Province of ...

, Louisa Calvert, and Caroline Calvert. He also had an illegitimate son, by the name of

Benedict Swingate Calvert Benedict Swingate Calvert (January 27, 1722 – January 9, 1788) was a planter, politician and a Loyalist (American Revolution), Loyalist in Maryland during the American Revolution. He was the son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, the ...

, who settled in Maryland, and married his cousin Elizabeth Calvert. * Hon. Benedict Leonard Calvert,

Governor of Maryland The governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...

, (1700–1731). He died 1 June 1732 on his passage home to England * Hon. Edward Henry Calvert (born ca. 1700), held the office of Commissary General and President of the council of

. * Hon. Charlotte Calvert (died December 1744), married Thomas Breerwood, by whom she had a son, Francis Breerwood * Hon. Jane Calvert (died July 1778), married John Hyde, with whom she had three children. * Hon. Cecil Calvert (born 1702) Charlotte and Lord Baltimore were separated in 1705. In 1706 Charlotte had an affair with Colonel Robert Fielding, then the bigamous husband of her grandmother the Duchess of Cleveland, and was rumoured to have borne a child by him, born on 23 April 1707. In 1711, Lord Baltimore brought a Bill before the House of Lords (which adjudicated on matters of inheritance of titles and estates) to confirm his divorce from Lady Charlotte, their financial settlement, and that any subsequent children she bore would be declared illegitimate.

Marriage to Christopher Crowe

Lady Baltimore married her second husband Christopher Crowe (c.1681 – 9 November 1749), Consul at Leghorn, sometime before 10 December 1719. Charlotte was three years older than her husband. This marriage produced five more children: * James Crowe (1715-1801), married Rebecca Sarah Crowberry (1717-1761) * Christopher Crowe (1716–1776), married Barbara Duncombe * Catherine Crowe (1717 – 1782), married Roger Henry Gale * Charlotte Crowe (1718–1742) * George Crowe (25 November 1719 – 10 October 1782), married Anne Swift, by whom he had a son, Robert.

Death and legacy

Charlotte Lee died of

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...

ThePeerage.com.p.7641.#76403 on 22 January 1721 at Woodford Hall, Woodford,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. She was buried at Woodford on 29 January 1721. She died

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without a legally valid will, resulting in the distribution of their estate under statutory intestacy laws rather than by their expressed wishes. Alternatively this may also apply ...

and her estate was administered on 4 March 1721 at Woodford Hall.

In fiction

Charlotte Lee appears as a minor character in

Anya Seton Anya Seton (January 23, 1904 – November 8, 1990), born Ann Seton, was an American author of historical fiction, or as she preferred they be called, " biographical novels". Early life and education Anya Seton was born Ann Seton on January 23, ...

's historical romance ''Devil Water''.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* G.E. Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extanct, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959) * Antonia Fraser, ''King Charles II'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd., London, 1979 * www.ThePeerage.com.pp. 7641,#76403 * Antonia Fraser, ''King Charles II'',p. 414 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baltimore, Charlotte 1678 births 1721 deaths Charlotte Charlotte Lee, Lady Baltimore

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Daughters of British earls