Name Christopher Lowndes | ||
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Died January 8, 1785, Bladensburg, Maryland, United States | ||
Christopher Lowndes (1713 – January 8, 1785) was a leading merchant in colonial Bladensburg, Prince George's County, Maryland. He was named Commissioner of the town of Bladensburg in 1745, and in 1753 he was appointed one of the justices of Prince George's County, holding both offices until his death in 1785.
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Biography
Christopher Lowndes was the fifth son of Richard Lowndes of Bostock House in Hassall, Cheshire, England and Margaret (nee Poole). He was baptized at Sandbach on June 19, 1713.
As early as 1738, he was living in Prince George's County, Maryland. In 1748, he was the senior partner in the firm of Christopher Lowndes and Company operating both in Maryland and in England. Christopher Lowndes was one of the Justices of Prince George's County from 1753 to 1775, and was of the Quorum from 1769. On June 4, 1777, he was commissioned under the new State government as one of the Justices of the county and Judge of the Orphans Court.
He died at Bladensburg on January 8, 1785. He was buried at St. Matthew's Church, Seat Pleasant, Maryland.
Business endeavors
Lowndes partnered with his brother-in-law, Benjamin Tasker, Jr.on the slaving voyage of the Elijah.
Other
Lowndes was builder and architect of St. Barnabas' Episcopal Church, Leeland in 1772.
Family
On May 14, 1747, Lowndes married Elizabeth Tasker (February 4, 1726 – September 19, 1789), daughter of Benjamin Tasker, Sr., President of the Council of Maryland, at St. Anne's Parish in Annapolis, Maryland. They had nine children, and their daughter Rebecca Lowndes (1757-February 10, 1802) was married on June 17, 1781 to Benjamin Stoddert (1751-1813), first Secretary of the Navy of the United States. His great-grandson, Lloyd Lowndes, Jr. (1845-1905) was a U.S. congressman and Governor of Maryland from 1896 to 1900.
Legacy
Lowndes' home at Bladensburg, known as Bostwick, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.