Benjamin Tasker Sr.
10th Governor of Restored Proprietary Government
In office
1752–1753
Preceded bySamuel Ogle
Succeeded byHoratio Sharpe
Personal details
Bornc. 1690 (1690)
Calvert County, Maryland, U.S.
DiedJune 19, 1768(1768-06-19) (aged 77–78)
Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.
Resting placeSt. Anne's Churchyard
Spouse
Ann Bladen
​
(m. 1711)​
Children10
Profession
  • politician
  • colonial governor

Benjamin Tasker Sr. (c. 1690 – June 19, 1768) was the 21st Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1752 to 1753.[1] He also occupied a number of other significant colonial offices, including, on various occasions, being elected Mayor of Annapolis.

Career

Benjamin Tasker was born around 1690 in Calvert County, Maryland, to Rebecca Isaacs (née Brooke) and Thomas Tasker.[2] Tasker became a naval officer at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1719 and served until 1742. He also served in the municipal and provincial government as: member and president of the Governor's Council, 1722–1768; member of the Lower House of the Maryland Legislature, 1715–1717, 1720–1722; member of the Upper House, 1722–1766, 1768; President of the Upper House, 1734–1766, 1768; Annapolis alderman, 1720, 1754–1766; Mayor of Annapolis, 1721–1722, 1726–1727, 1747–1748, 1750–1753, 1756–1757; President of the Council in 1752; acting governor of Maryland, 1753.

In October 1731, Tasker was one of the founders of the Baltimore Ironworks Company.[2]

In 1740, Governor Samuel Ogle was dispatched to England following England's declaration of war against Spain. He left Tasker with his power of attorney and in addition "the task of supervising the construction of a new house at Belair."[3]

Family

Governor Samuel Ogle, married Tasker's eldest daughter, Anne. Portrait at Mount Airy

Tasker married Ann Bladen, daughter of William Bladen Attorney-General of Maryland, in on July 31, 1711.[2][1] They had ten children:

Death and legacy

Tasker died on June 19, 1768, in Annapolis. He was buried in St. Anne's Churchyard in Annapolis.[2][8] His tombstone reads:

Here are deposited the remains of the Honourable Benjamin Tasker who departed this 1life the 19th of June AD 1768 in the 78th year of his Age which though of a constitution naturally weak and tender he attained through the efficiency of an exemplary temperance At the time of his decease he was President of the Council a station he had occupied for thirty two years The offices of Agent and receiver general and judge of the prerogative Court he successively exercised Such were his qualities his probity equanimity candor benevolence that no one was more respected more beloved So diffusive and pure his humanity so singular the influence of his deportment that he was no one's enemy nor any one his These tombs are erected in the year 1826 in the place of the original ones which have decayed by the liberality and filial affection of Mrs. Ann Dulany of the City of London still longer to perpetuate the memory of those of her respected ancestors whose remains are deposited beneath them.[8]

Legacy

Newspaper advertisement for the sale of Tasker's estate Belle Air in 1771

Benjamin Tasker Middle School, in Bowie, Maryland, is named after him.

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Richardson, Hester Dorsey (1903). Side-lights on Maryland History: With Sketches of Early Maryland Families. Baltimore, Maryland: Williams and Wilkins Company. pp. 17–18. ISBN 0-8063-0296-8.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Benjamin Tasker (ca. 1690-1768)". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  3. ↑ Baltz, Shirley Vlasak (1984). A Chronicle of Belair. Bowie, Maryland: Bowie Heritage Committee. pp. 14–19. LCCN 85165028.
  4. 1 2 Johnston, James H. (2012). From Slave Ship to Harvard: Yarrow Mamout and the History of an African American Family. Fordham University Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0823239504.
  5. ↑ Richardson, Hester Dorsey (1903). Side-lights on Maryland History: With Sketches of Early Maryland Families. Baltimore, Maryland: Williams and Wilkins Company. pp. 190–193. ISBN 0-8063-0296-8.
  6. ↑ Johnston, Christopher (1907). Maryland Historical Magazine, Volume 2. Maryland Historical Society. pp. 276–279. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  7. ↑ Browne, William Hand (1909). Maryland Historical Magazine, Volume 4. Maryland Historical Society. p. 192. Retrieved 2016-06-09. anne bladen.
  8. 1 2 Ridgely, Helen West (1908). Historic Graves Of Maryland And The District Of Columbia With The Inscriptions Appearing On The Tombstones In Most Of The Counties Of The State And In Washington And Georgetown. New York: The Grafton Press. p. 5. OCLC 23907948.
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