Rebecca Calvert

Evidence needed to support as daughter of Dr. Thomas Gerard, Gent. & Susannah Gerard

Biography

Last updated 23 January 2025

Rebecca Gerard, only child and heiress of John Gerard (d. 1715) and his wife Elisabeth, was born October 9, 1706 in Maryland and died in March 1735 in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

At the age of 16 she married Charles Calvert, Governor of Maryland, also known as Charles Calvert Lazenby. They had three children. He was born 1688 and died 18 Jan. 1735, possibly the son of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore and a woman known as "Countess Henrietta."

Rebecca outlived her husband by only one year. She left a will in which she entrusted the care of her daughters, Anne (age 9) and Elizabeth (age 4) to Elizabeth Razolini. The Razolini family, from Venice and France, were close confidantes of the Calvert family.

Children of Rebecca Gerard and husband Charles Calvert, Governor of Maryland:

• Charles Calvert, 1723-1724.
• Anne Calvert, 1727-1734.
• Elizabeth Calvert, 1730-1788, married her cousin Benedict Swingate Calvert, also known as Benedict Leonard Calvert.

  ---

  
  

As governor of the Province, Calvert was a most eligible bachelor. He took as his wife Rebecca Gerard[1]%281708-1734/35%29 a landed heiress from Maryland, who was just sixteen when the couple were married on November 21, 1722 by the rector of Queen Anne's parish, a marriage which "enlivened the whole winter season with entertainments for the new first lady", wrote Aubrey Land. She was an only child and on her marriage her property, a plantation near Queen Anne's Town in Prince George's County, passed to Captain Calvert.[2]

Marriage 21 Nov 1722 Prince George's County[3]

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Calvert_(governor)#Family_life

A previous version of this profile identified her parents as the daughter of Dr Thomas Gerard and wife Susannah Snowe. However, chronology does not support that genealogy.

References

• https://colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I32013&tr... shows as daughter of John Gerard and Elizabeth Taylor (d. aft 1728)
• WikiTree contributors, "Rebecca (Gerard) Calvert (abt.1706-abt.1735)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gerard-489 : accessed 23 January 2025). shows as daughter of John Gerard (b 1690) & Elizabeth (unknown).
• A Chesapeake Family and Their Slaves: A Study in Historical Archaeology, by Anne E. Yentsch. Page 12 < GoogleBooks >.
• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jan 23 2025, 10:08:53 UTC