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In November 1633 the 358-ton Ark and the 26-ton Dove sailed from the Isle of Wight in England, transporting some 125 colonists to settle the Proprietary Province of Maryland. This new work, The Ark and the Dove Adventurers, is the first comprehensive account of these original Maryland colonists, and it contains compiled genealogies of their descendants to the fifth generation when possible, much like the five-generation project of the Mayflower Society or the six generation project of the Order of First Families of Virginia. It is an authoritative and significant contribution to early Maryland history and genealogy and places Maryland "first families" on a par with the first families of Massachusetts and Virginia. Because there are no recorded passenger lists for the Ark and Dove, the compilers have mined alternative record sources in order to reconstruct the rosters of passengers and crew and establish the genealogical links and vital statistics that make up the heart of this book. These sources include the Maryland Land Patent Books; the minutes, proceedings, and records of the Maryland Prerogative Court, Chancery Court, Provincial Court, and the Assembly; the land, probate, court, tax, and other records of the original counties; the registers of the earliest churches; and Harry Wright Newman's The Flowering of the Maryland Palatinate. Countless other sources are cited in footnotes. Edited by noted Maryland genealogists George Ely Russell, former editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, and Donna Valley Russell, both Fellows of the American Genealogical Society, the work is divided into three parts:

Part One is devoted to Sir George Calvert (Lord Baltimore), the founder of Maryland, and his descendants.

Part Two, which comprises the majority of this work, presents biographical accounts of passengers known to have had families, plus genealogies of descendants, extended to the fifth generation.
James Baldridge
Major Thomas Baldridge
Anam Benum
John Briscoe
William Brown
Leonard Calvert
Thomas Cornwallis
Ann Cox
William Edwin
Cuthbert Fenwick
Captain Henry Fleete
Richard Gerard
Richard Gilbert
Thomas Greene
John Hallowes
Nicholas Harvey
Richard Lowe
John Neville
Richard Nevitt
John Price
Robert Smith
Ann Smithson
Robert Vaughan
Robert Wiseman

Part Three describes the passengers who are not known to have had descendants. Also included are some later arrivals previously and erroneously claimed as 1634 settlers, and some spurious or doubtful claims of descendants.

In addition, the book contains a comprehensive Index, compiled by Jane Fletcher Fiske, FASG, naming approximately 6,000 individuals, with women listed under both maiden names and married names.

About The Society of The Ark and The Dove
In 1910 some descendants of the Maryland pioneers, headed by George Norbury MacKenzie, gathered in Baltimore and formed The Society of The Ark and The Dove ­øto perpetuate the memory of the first families of Maryland, and to provide opportunities for fellowship for all those who trace their descent from Lord Baltimore and from those who came on the Ark and the Dove in 1634 to settle the Proprietary Province of Maryland.­ The Society continues to encourage research in early Maryland history and promotes its goals through a variety of programs and publications.