Margaret Brent. Attorney, Adventurer, and Suffragist

Transcription

1 Margaret Brent Attorney, Adventurer, and Suffragist

2 Margaret Brent Attorney, Adventurer, and Suffragist Revised Edition Copyright 2006 Aleck Loker All rights reserved No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. ISBN ISBN Printed in the United States of America Cover image derived from: Maryland State Archives. Margaret Brent (ca ), Conjectural painting by Louis Glanzman, MSA SC , April 11, /002100/002177/html/brochure.html. Published by: Solitude Press 212 Brooks Street Williamsburg VA 23185

3 T hree hundred and fifty-eight years ago, Margaret Brent appeared before the Maryland legislature demanding the right to vote. She owned, through her own business acumen, a substantial amount of land in Maryland and Virginia, and functioned as a highly competent attorney in civil law cases and at least one criminal case. Who was this Englishwoman living in colonial America, and how could someone thought of at that time as a middle-aged spinster have had the temerity to take such a bold step? Unfortunately, Margaret Brent is hardly recognized in England or America for the great adventurer, attorney, and human rights pioneer that she was. It s high time that her English and American countrymen give her the honor and recognition that she deserves. To understand what motivated Margaret Brent, we need to think about her world of the early 17th century in England, Europe, and America. We also need to know more about her her family and how she may have been raised. This biography traces what is known about Margaret Brent s life in England and America, and offers some speculation on factors that may have affected her character. Margaret Brent s Early Life and Education Margaret was born around 1601, one of thirteen children of Richard Brent and Elizabeth Reed Brent of Gloucestershire in England. Her parents had six boys and seven girls. Little is known of the Brent children s education. However, one can infer that they were well educated for their time, perhaps by tutors and also by education abroad. William, one of the younger 1

4 children, was sent to St. Omer s in the Low Countries for his education. The record shows that, by 1633, Laurence Lodowick 1, a Benedictine monk from Yorkshire, died at Lark Stoke, the Brent home. He may have been Richard Brent s chaplain and could have assisted with the education of some of the Brent children. Lark Stoke Manor The Brent home in England Margaret and four of her sisters remained unmarried throughout their lives. Three of her sisters, Catherine, Elizabeth and Eleanor, became nuns. The reason for Margaret s and Mary s decision to remain single is unknown. Although it is not known whether Margaret and Mary (who accompanied her to America) traveled to the continent, Margaret certainly exhibited continental social attributes. At that time in England, women did not usually engage in serious intellectual discourse with men. In the Low Countries, 2

5 to the contrary, women freely engaged in such dialog and generally enjoyed freer movement within society. We know that Margaret s three sisters were nuns at Cambrai (now part of France). It s conceivable that Margaret visited them there before coming to America. Antonia Frazer, writing in The Weaker Vessel, has said, Many of the daughters of the English Catholic families continued to be sent abroad to convents in the Low Countries to receive their education... But these girls who wended their way to the Low Countries, often remaining there as nuns, also found a kind of independence unknown to their sisters still at home... It s also conceivable that Margaret and Mary had been exposed to the proselytizing of Mary Ward, an Englishwoman from Yorkshire where the Calvert family lived. The Calverts founders of the Maryland Colony were cousins of the Brents. Mary Ward had joined the Poor Clare order on the continent and returned to England, leading a clandestine group of Catholic women. Her uncles (named Wright) were implicated in the infamous Gunpowder Plot. 2 Mary Ward founded the English Poor Clares convent at Gravelines, France. Mary Clifton, Margaret Brent s niece, entered that convent. Thus the Brents knew of Mary Ward, and Margaret and Mary Brent may have secretly joined Mary Ward s sect. However, no direct evidence of this has been uncovered. The public record in Maryland discloses that, as an adult, Margaret was self-assertive in that exclusively male society. Her strength of character and obviously capable intellect, evident in her public life in Maryland, imply that Margaret had received 3