Edward Ingle

“ Many writers have stated that good Fathers White and Fisher were carried off to England by Ingle, but from the records of the Jesuits at Stonyhurst, it is learned that Father White was seized “by a band of soldiers,” “and carried to England in chains,” and also that in “1645 This year the colony was attacked by a party of ‘rowdies’ or marauders and the missioners were carried off to Virginia.” [41] These extracts serve to show what was the confusion existing in the minds of contemporaries of Ingle, and the extreme difficulty, therefore, of finding the real truth. ”

“ The energetic Claiborne, who was also called by Maryland authorities a pirate and a rebel, but who was a much better man than is generally supposed, and whose life ought to be especially studied, was still pushing his claims to Kent Island, and Leonard Calvert had been compelled to visit Virginia more than once during the winter in trying to prevent his actions. The Indians were aroused and prone to take advantage of disputes between the factions in the province, while the colonists themselves were in a state of unrest. At this juncture Ingle appeared. ”

“ But since his return to England, the said Papists and malignants, conspiring together, have brought fictitious acts against him, at the common law, in the name of Thomas Cornwallis and others for pretended trespass, in taking away their goods, in the parish of St. Christopher’s, London, which are the very goods that were by force of war justly and lawfully taken from these wicked Papists and malignants in Maryland, and with which he relieved the poor distressed Protestants there, who otherwise must have starved, and been rooted out. ”

“ In the latter part of the year 1645 began the era of petitions, which should be taken with allowance, for the age has been characterized as one of perjury, and in the representations by both parties in Maryland politics, advantage was taken of every slight point to strengthen their respective positions, and from internal evidence it seems that some statements were garbled, to say the least about them. ”

“ For when at his command some persons who had acted treasonably were condemned to death, parliament declared that “all such indictments and proceedings thereon were unjust and illegal; and that if any man was executed or suffered hurt, for any thing he had done by their order, the like punishment should be inflicted by death or otherwise, upon such prisoners as were, or should be, taken by their forces,” and their lives were saved. [21] The authorities of Maryland themselves show why Ingle was allowed to escape. ”

“ Richard Ingle’s name first appears in the records of Maryland under date of March 23rd, 1641/2, when he petitioned the Assembly against Giles Brent touching the serving of an execution by the sheriff. He had come to the province a few weeks before, bringing in his vessel Captain Thomas Cornwallis, one of the original council, the greatest man in Maryland at that time, who had been spending some months in England. [3] Between the time of his arrival and the date of his petition Ingle had no doubt been plying his business, tobacco trading, in the inlets and rivers of the province. ”

“ Inigoes’ creek, he was not, therefore, a pirate. According to the testimony, he used no force, for the one in charge of the pinnace allowed him to take it; and the act was not committed on the high seas. For the acts committed on the land, Ingle acknowledged himself to have been responsible; for in his petition he wrote, that he “did venture his life and fortune in landing his men and assisting the said well-affected Protestants (i. e., such as adhered to Parliament) ” against the government, the papists and malignants. ”

“ Nothing had been said according to the records up to that time in Maryland about the loss of the seal. On the contrary, in a commission given by Governor Greene on July 4th, 1647, over a year before the proprietor’s commission for the great seal, are the words, “Given under my hand and the Seal of the province.” [73] and in the proclamation of March 4th, 1648, Greene promised pardon [Pg 45] “under my hand and the seal of the province,” [74] to all out of the province except Ingle, who should confess their faults before a certain date. ”

“ There is, however, one fact which must not be [Pg 38] lost sight of in regard to Leonard Calvert’s commission to Hill. If it was executed by a member of the council, and therefore was a forgery, for in the records Calvert’s name is signed to it, and the place of the seal is noted, it is not at all likely that it would have been allowed by Calvert on his return, and by his immediate successors, to be preserved and copied into the records. If all other proof failed this last would establish the validity of Hill’s commission. ”

“ Mary’s resulting in partial subversion of Baltimore’s government, the “Reformation” was riding at the mouth of St. Inigoes’ creek, near which was situated the “Cross,” the manor house of Cornwallis, who, when he had been obliged in 1644 to leave Maryland, had left his house and property in the hands of Cuthbert Fenwick, his attorney. [42] Fenwick was intending to go to Accomac, Virginia, and sent Thomas Harrison, a servant, who had been bought from Ingle by Cornwallis, and a fellow servant, Edw. Matthews, to help Andrew Monroe to bring a small pinnace nearer the house. ”

“ Three days afterward a warrant was issued to William Hardige, a tailor, for the arrest of Ingle for high treason, and Captain Cornwallis was bidden to aid Hardige, and the matter was to be kept secret. [6] Ingle was arrested and given into the custody of Edward Parker, the sheriff, by the lieutenant general of the province, Giles Brent, who also seized Ingle’s goods and ship, until he should clear himself, and placed on board, under John Hampton, a guard ordered to allow no one to come on the ship without a warrant from the lieutenant general. ”

“ The latter accused Ingle of not returning the value of goods entrusted to him, and also of landing, during his absence, “some men near his house,” and rifling “him to the value of 2,500 l at least.” [78] All this was done after Cornwallis had showed his devotion to Parliament, by releasing Ingle. It must be remembered in connection with the devotion to Parliament, that Ingle was doing the great carrying trade for Cornwallis. Besides, after Ingle had made him his attorney, he went to Maryland and there sued three men for the pillage and destruction of his property, without implicating Ingle. ”

“ The matter was given a full hearing, and when it was left to the law and the defendant was granted the right of having witnesses in Maryland examined, Ingle had him arrested upon two feigned actions to the value of 15,000 pounds sterling. Some friends succeeded in rescuing him from prison, and then Ingle sent the following petition to the House of Lords, which had the effect of stopping for the time proceedings against him. [51] Having done so he carried the prosecution no further. The petition is somewhat lengthy, but it should be read as it is eminently characteristic of the man. ”

“ What a change of policy, from charging a man with treason, the penalty for which was death, to offering him the right of bail for the appearance of his attorney, if necessary, to meet indefinite charges! In view of all the facts, it seems probable that the Maryland authorities were committed to the King’s cause by the commission granted by him to Leonard Calvert in 1643, and by their action in seizing Ingle ”

“ The vessels were stayed for over a month, when they were allowed to sail down to Gravesend, where, before they left for Virginia, the mayor and justices were to “take the superscription of passengers and mariners not to [Pg 43] engage against the Commonwealth.” [69] In April of this year the Council of State ordered the payment to Ingle of £30 sterling for services and care in keeping Captain Gardner, who had been arrested for treason, in having tried to betray Portland Castle. ”

“ In Lord Baltimore’s commission to Leonard Calvert, of September 18th, 1644, is the provision: [58] “and lastly whereas our said Lieutenant may happen to dye or be absent from time to time out of the said province of Maryland, before we can have notice to depute another in his place we do therefore hereby grant unto him full power and Authority from time to time in [Pg 36] such Cases to Nominate elect and appoint such an able person inhabiting and residing within our said province of Maryld, as he in his discretion shall make choice of & think fit to be our Lieutenant Governor, &c.” ”

“ He supposed, “from certain words spoken by the Secretary,” that Brent and the council had agreed to let Ingle go on board his vessel, and when Captain Cornwallis and Mr. Neale came from the council meeting and carried Ingle to the ship, he accompanied them. [9] Arrived on board Cornwallis said “All is peace,” and persuaded the commanding officer to bid his men lay down their arms and disperse, and then Ingle and his crew regained possession of the ship. ”

“ Proprietor’s commissions for the great seal, for muster master general, for commander of Kent Island, respectively, in 1648; and in his letter to Stone in 1649, the rebellion is attributed to the instigation of Ingle. ”

“ Accomac, in Virginia, but he, in the parliament’s name had refused to do so, and had threatened to cut off the head of any one who should come on his ship. [12] On January 29th, Hardige and others were summoned to appear and to give evidence of—here the pirate enters—“pyratical & treasonable offences” of Ingle. On February 1st, the sheriff impannelled a jury of which Robert Vaughan was chosen foreman, and witnesses were sworn, among them Hardige who “being excepted at as infamous,” by Capt. Cornwallis, “was not found so.” ”

“ Whoever was the author of the statement, it throws doubt upon other supposed facts of this period, and leads to the conclusion that the commission for a new seal was one of the reconstructive acts of the proprietor, on a par with the treatment of Hill.
Ingle has been charged with the destruction of the records of the province. What was Baltimore’s opinion? “We understand” he wrote in 1651, “that in the late Rebellion there One thousand [Pg 47] Six hundred Forty and four most of the Records of that province being then lost or embezzled.” ”

“ His appointing Cornwallis his attorney for collecting Maryland and Virginia debts would also lead one to believe that he did not return to the province. Some of the records of the Hill government, however, were in existence in 1649, but as far as is known have since disappeared. Ingle certainly did not destroy them, and indeed to a man engaged in the tobacco trade, there were few [Pg 49] inducements to waste his time, and that of his men cutting up records.
It is difficult to understand why Lord Baltimore should have called Ingle an “ungrateful villain,” for the reception the latter met at St. ”

“ These had protection in a certain fortified citadel, built for their own defence, situated about five miles from the others; but now, aroused by the nocturnal report of the cannon, the day after, that is on the first of August, rush upon [Pg 26] us with arms, break into the houses of the Catholics, and plunder whatever there is of arms or powder. ”