Last Royal Colonial Governor of Maryland . Sir. Robert Eden succeeded Horatio Sharpe as the Colonial Governor of Maryland, being the last before the Revolutionary War and America's Independence. Born the second son of eight children, his parents were Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet of West Auckland and Member of Parliament, and his wife Mary. After his father's death, he joined the military, serving as a commissioned officer in the Royal Regiment of Artillery in the Seven Years' War in Germany. In London on April 26, 1765, he married Caroline Calvert, the sister of the last Lord Baltimore, Frederick Calvert. Located on the Eastern Shore, Caroline County, Maryland was named in his wife's honor. He and his wife had three children. He was commissioned by Lord Baltimore to be the Royal Governor of the Maryland Colony in 1768. His first action as governor was to stop the Maryland General Assembly from protesting the Townshend Acts. Eden laid the cornerstone of the Maryland Statehouse on March 28, 1772. Throughout his administration, Eden was engaged as a diplomat between the colonist and England. Eden sympathized with the colonist, yet was opposed to an armed uprising against England. Maryland was the only state that did not remove its last proprietary governor. Eden was requested by the Maryland Council of Safety to step down as governor. Leaving his wealthy holdings in colonial Maryland, he left for England on June 26, 1776. Eden's conduct in Maryland and the judicious manner of his leaving were highly commended, and for this reason, he was created a Baronet of Maryland by King George III as well as awarded a handsome monetary settlement of litigation over the proprietorship of Maryland. After the Revolutionary War, he returned to Maryland to recover some property but died of congested heart failure in Annapolis with his remains repatriated to England for burial. Originally buried in the old sanctuary of St. Margaret's in Westminster, England, Eden's remains were returned to Maryland to be reinterred in St. Anne's Churchyard Cemetery in June of 1926. He is the ancestor of Anthony Eden, British Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957.
Last Royal Colonial Governor of Maryland . Sir. Robert Eden succeeded Horatio Sharpe as the Colonial Governor of Maryland, being the last before the Revolutionary War and America's Independence. Born the second son of eight children, his parents were Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet of West Auckland and Member of Parliament, and his wife Mary. After his father's death, he joined the military, serving as a commissioned officer in the Royal Regiment of Artillery in the Seven Years' War in Germany. In London on April 26, 1765, he married Caroline Calvert, the sister of the last Lord Baltimore, Frederick Calvert. Located on the Eastern Shore, Caroline County, Maryland was named in his wife's honor. He and his wife had three children. He was commissioned by Lord Baltimore to be the Royal Governor of the Maryland Colony in 1768. His first action as governor was to stop the Maryland General Assembly from protesting the Townshend Acts. Eden laid the cornerstone of the Maryland Statehouse on March 28, 1772. Throughout his administration, Eden was engaged as a diplomat between the colonist and England. Eden sympathized with the colonist, yet was opposed to an armed uprising against England. Maryland was the only state that did not remove its last proprietary governor. Eden was requested by the Maryland Council of Safety to step down as governor. Leaving his wealthy holdings in colonial Maryland, he left for England on June 26, 1776. Eden's conduct in Maryland and the judicious manner of his leaving were highly commended, and for this reason, he was created a Baronet of Maryland by King George III as well as awarded a handsome monetary settlement of litigation over the proprietorship of Maryland. After the Revolutionary War, he returned to Maryland to recover some property but died of congested heart failure in Annapolis with his remains repatriated to England for burial. Originally buried in the old sanctuary of St. Margaret's in Westminster, England, Eden's remains were returned to Maryland to be reinterred in St. Anne's Churchyard Cemetery in June of 1926. He is the ancestor of Anthony Eden, British Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957.
Inscription
Here lyeth buried Y body of Sir Robert Eden Bart, Provincial Governor of Maryland, 1769-1776, who departed his life at Annapolis September 2, 1784 in Y 43rd year of his age.
His remains were taken from the sanctuary of the Old Church of St. Margarets Westminster and laid beneath this stone by The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Maryland, June 1926.
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