Editing Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (section)

===''Ark'' and ''Dove''===
[[File:Maryland Dove.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|Modern reconstruction of ''[[Maryland Dove|Dove]]'', one of the two ships that carried settlers to plant Lord Baltimore's first settlement in Maryland in 1634.]]

The first expedition consisted of two ships that had formerly belonged to Baltimore's father George, ''[[The Ark (ship)|Ark]]'' and ''[[Maryland Dove|Dove]]''.<ref name="B40">Browne, Page 40</ref> Both ships departed from [[Gravesend, Kent]] with 128 settlers on board, but were intercepted and forced to return to port by the [[Royal Navy]] so that the settlers would take an oath of allegiance to the King as required by law. They then sailed to the [[Isle of Wight]] in October 1632 to pick up more settlers.<ref name="B40" /> There, two Jesuit priests (including [[Andrew White (missionary)|Father Andrew White]]) and nearly 200 more settlers boarded before the ships set out across the Atlantic Ocean.<ref>Browne, p.  45</ref>

Baltimore sent detailed instructions for the governance of the colony. He directed his brother to seek information about those who had tried to thwart the colony and to contact William Claiborne to determine his intentions for the trading station on [[Kent Island, Maryland|Kent Island]].<ref name="Browne4657">Browne, pp. 46–57</ref> He also emphasised the importance of religious toleration among the colonists, who numbered nearly equally Catholic and Protestant.<ref name="Browne4657" />

[[File:Leonard Calvert, by Jacob Van Oost I or II (1640).jpg|thumb|[[Leonard Calvert]], Lord Baltimore's younger brother and the first governor of the [[Province of Maryland|Maryland colony]].]]

With these last instructions, the expedition crossed the Atlantic and sailed through [[Cape Charles (headland)]] and [[Cape Henry]] into the large harbour and lower bay called [[Hampton Roads]] at the entrance to the [[Chesapeake Bay]] and the mouth of the [[James River]]. After meeting with the Virginians at their colony and capital of [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]], they continued up the Bay to the [[Potomac River]], then further upstream and landed on 25 March 1634 at [[Blakistone Island Light|Blakistone Island]] (later called [[St. Clement's Island State Park|St. Clement's Island]]). There they erected a cross and celebrated their first Mass with Father White. Several days later, they returned downstream and founded the first settlement at [[St. Mary's City, Maryland|St. Mary's City]] (in the future [[St. Mary's County, Maryland|St. Mary's County]]), on 27 March 1634, on land purchased from the native [[Yaocomico]] tribe, a branch of the [[Piscataway Indian Nation and Tayac Territory|Piscataway]] Indians.<ref>Browne, pp. 59–62</ref>

From England, Baltimore tried to manage the political relations with the Crown and other parts of government. Claiborne, the trader on Kent Island, resisted the new settlement and conducted some naval skirmishes against it.<ref>Browne, pp. 62–64</ref>

Calvert attempted to stay closely involved in the governance of the colony, though he never visited it. During his long tenure, he governed through deputies: the first was his younger brother [[Leonard Calvert]] (1606–1647),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/000100/000198/html/198bio.html |title=Leonard Calvert ''MSA SC 3520-198'' |publisher=Maryland State Archives |date=7 March 2003}}</ref> and the last was his only son [[Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore|Charles]].