Margaret Brent
Personal Information
Born: 1601
Died: 1671
Country of Birth: UK
Nationality: British-american
Ethnicity: White
Education
Unknown
Professional Life
Field of Study: Historical Figure
Institution/Corporation: None
Degrees & Memberships: None found
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1985 Maryland Women's Hall of Fame; 2000 named a member of Virginia's Women in History
Achievements: first female in the colonies to demand the right to vote & to appear before a court of common law; 1st female landowner (1639 in Maryland & 1647 in Virginia) & attorney in the colonies; January 21, 1648 appeared in Maryland's general Assembly & demanded the right to cast 2 votes, 1 as a landowner & 1 as Lord Baltimore's attorney, request was denied by Gov. Thomas Greene
In 1978, Virginia erected a historical marker in Jones Point Park commemorating Mistress Margaret Brent's fight for women's rights, as well as her ownership of the land which became Alexandria, Virginia
1991, the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award was established by the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of women lawyers who have excelled in their field and have paved the way to success for other women lawyers
1998, Virginia erected a historical highway marker commemorating Margaret, her brother Giles and her sister Mary Brent for constructing the first Roman Catholic Settlement in Virginia, along historic Route 1 near the former Brent family graveyard
arrived in St. Mary's City with her sister Mary & brothers Giles & Fulke on November 22, 1638 with land grants from Lord Baltimore
Fulke later returned to England
established a plantation with sister & began trading in tobacco, indentured servants, & lending money to immigrants
by the time of her death she & her siblings owned approximately 10,000 acres of land
was named with gov. Leonard Calvert (brother of Lord Baltimore) as guardians of Mary Kittamaquund the 7-year-old daughter of the chief of the Piscataway Indians; Giles Brent married Mary in 1644 & after her father's death claimed her tribe's lands
was 1 of 13 children born to her wealthy & influential parents
she & her siblings came to the Colonies to make their fortunes
little is know of her life before she came to the Colonies but it is believed she had some education
as a single female she was allowed to conduct business & own property, rights that would be rescinded & given to her husband by British law if she married
1645 King Charles was at war with the British Parliament in the British civil War & 1 of his navy captains attacked St. Mary City & destroyed property of the Catholic settlers forcing Mary & her sister to flee to Virginia after her brother Giles was arrested
they returned to Maryland late 1646
on his deathbed in 1647 Gov. Calvert appointed Margaret as the executor of his estate & told her to "take all & pay all" referring to the payment of his debts to his soldiers
she was appointed attorney for Lord Baltimore in 1648 & sold some of his cattle to pay Gov. Calvert's soldiers
Lord Baltimore never forgave her for selling his cattle & ordered her to leave Maryland in 1651
Margaret & her family then settled in Virginia where she established a plantation called Peace where she lived until her death
the Brent family estates & records were burned by British raiders in the American Revolutionary War & the War of 1812 destroying family records
the family graveyard was vandalized with tombstones destroyed during the civil War & that is why her exact dates of birth & death are unknown but believed to be 1601 & 1671 respectively
exhibits featuring her can be found in Historic St. Mary's City where there is also a garden dedicated in her memory, a college building & a street named after her
several schools in Maryland & Stafford City Virginia bear her name