Project Officer Naomi Peach in the newly created shelter at the Maryland Garden

This blog post was written based on research during the ‘Interpreting Kiplin for 400’ project, a National Lottery Heritage Fund project with thanks to National Lottery players. (Posted 8th April 2025)

In 1633 two ships, the Ark and the Dove, set sail from the Isle of Wight, England, on the 3000 mile voyage to Maryland, America. The journey was the passion project of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore who had long dreamed of setting up a new colony in America. He had died only weeks before the charter for Maryland was granted in June 1632, leaving his son, Cecil, to make the dream a reality. 

The journey to Maryland in 1633 took four months. Along the way the ships stopped at several ports. One passenger, Father Andrew White, kept a diary of the voyage to send back to Cecil Calvert and other investors back in England. This gives an insight into the experiences of the passengers as they visited these new and unfamiliar places.1 

Originally the ships had planned to stop at a port along the west coast of Africa. However, the decision was made to carry on. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision, as pirates were operating in the area and attacked other ships that had stopped.2 The decision to sail straight on to the Caribbean may have saved the entire voyage. 

After six weeks of treacherous travel across the Atlantic Ocean, the first stop for the passengers was the island of Barbados. The tropical island must have felt like a different world to the one they’d left behind in England. The ships were docked for 10 days in a bustling port, giving the passengers an opportunity to stretch their legs and explore the delights Barbados had to offer. The passengers tried all sorts of new fruits like oranges, lemons, pomegranates and guava fruits. Father White was so amazed by pineapples that he called them the “queen of fruits”.3  

Over the next month, the ships stopped in Martinique, St Christophers (now St Kitts) and Jamestown in Virginia. 

Most of the places the ships stopped were British colonies at this time. While the passengers of the Ark and the Dove were travelling to places new to them, many of the people they interacted with will have been British. British colonisers and merchants had been in the area for several decades. They controlled the ports and many of the businesses the passengers would need to buy things from. In St Christopher’s, Father White tells how the richer gentlemen onboard were hosted and “nobly entertained” by the island’s Governor during their stay.4 

The primary trade here in the 1620s and 1630s was tobacco. Sugar had recently been introduced and would become the main trade in the years to come.  

We know that the passengers did have interactions with groups and individuals native to the islands. However, these are recorded by Father White as being somewhat limited, partially due to language differences.5 

After four long months of perilous travel across 7000 miles of ocean, the Ark and the Dove landed in Maryland on 25th March 1634. Their journey was finally over, and they joyfully celebrated their safe arrival with a special Catholic Mass ceremony. But arriving in Maryland was only the start of their story. 

1. A Relation of the Successefull Beginning of the Lord Baltimore’s Plantation in Mary-land. pg. 42-55. Maryland State Archives: Annapolis, 1990. Archives of Maryland, Volume 0551, Page 0042 – A Relation of the Successefull Beginning of the Lord Baltemore’s Plantation in Mary-land Accessed on [2nd August 2024]. 

1. Briefe Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland. Maryland State Archives: Annapolis, 1990. Archives of Maryland, Volume 0552, Page 0015 – A Briefe Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland p.15 

1. Briefe Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland. Maryland State Archives: Annapolis, 1990. Archives of Maryland, Volume 0552, Page 0013 – A Briefe Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland p.13. 

1. Briefe Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland. Maryland State Archives: Annapolis, 1990. Archives of Maryland, Volume 0552, Page 0016 – A Briefe Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland p.16. 

1. Briefe Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland. Maryland State Archives: Annapolis, 1990.Archives of Maryland, Volume 0552, Page 0015 – A Briefe Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland pp.15-16. 

 Find out more history.kiplinhall.co.uk/kiplin-400/