Thomas Bordley

Description

Oil on canvas portrait painting of Thomas Bordley (1682-1726). Born at "Bordley Hall" in Yorkshire, England, he came to Maryland with his brother Rev. Stephen Bordley (1675-1709) in 1694. Bordley lived in Kent County for a time before settling in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, where he began to study law. He went on to become a leading lawyer in Maryland for a number of years and served in the following public offices: Clerk, Secretary’s Office and Provincial Court (1703-1707); Clerk, Committees of the Lower House (1704, 1706, 1714); Clerk, Prerogative Office (1708-1712); Surveyor general, Western Shore (1717-1718); Attorney General (1718-1721); Commissary General (1718-1721); Council (1720-1721); Lower House (1708-1711, 1715-1719); Upper House (1720-1726). He married twice: First, in 1708 to Rachel Beard Bordley (1690-1722), and they had four children. In 1723, he married his second wife Ariana Vanderheyden Bordley (1690-1741) and they had three children. Bordley traveled to London, possibly to have a kidney stone removed, and died during the surgery. At the time of his death he owned hundreds of acres, nineteen slaves, six servants, and one hundred law books. He is buried in Newington, England.