Copley, Lionel

Copley, Lionel (1648–09 September 1693), first royal governor of Maryland, was born in Wadsworth, Yorkshire, England, the son of Lionel Copley and Frisalina Ward. Copley matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1665, but otherwise little is known about his life before 1676, the year he married Ann Boteler of Walton Woodhall, Hertfordshire; they had three children. That marriage perhaps assisted Copley in acquiring a commission as captain of the royal footguards the same year. He subsequently pursued a military career and by 1681 was stationed at the fortress of Hull under command of the duke of York. His influential patron through this decade was Thomas Osborne, the earl of Danby....