Thomas Bladen (23 February 1698 – 2 February 1780) was a colonial governor in North America and politician who sat in the British House of Commons between 1727 and 1741. He served as the 19th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1742 to 1747.
Contents
Early life
Bladen was born in Maryland in 1698, the eldest son of William Bladen (1672–1718) of Annapolis, who came to Maryland in 1690, and his wife Anne Van Swearingen. Among his siblings was Anne Bladen (wife of Benjamin Tasker Sr., also a Governor of Maryland).
Thomas was the grandson of Nathaniel Bladen (an attorney who was steward to Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds) and Isabella Fairfax (daughter of Sir William Fairfax of Steeton). He was the nephew of Colonel Martin Bladen, Commissioner of the Board of Trade and Plantations.
Bladen travelled early to England in 1712, where he was educated at Westminster School. He disposed of his Maryland property on his father's death in 1718.