england's secretary of state under james i of england was george calvert. when he decided to publicly announce he was a catholic in 1625, english law required him to resign his position. the king made him an irish baronet with the title of "lord baltimore". calvert was one of the investors in the virginia company but was not allowed to go to the virginia colony because of his religion. now retired and with time on his hands, calvert turned his attention to overseas plantations. a wealthy man, calvert started his own "avalon" colony in newfoundland. but by 1629 calvert lost interest. he then convinced charles i of england, james's successor, to give him a land grant to start the colony of maryland. the king gave calvert and his son everything north of the potomac river to the 40th parallel and everything from the atlantic ocean to the source of the potomac. the first lord calvert died in 1632. his sons went on to found the maryland colony. on may 27th, 1634, leonard calvert with about 300 settlers arrived at st. mary's city, maryland on the chesapeake bay.