George Alsop
George Alsop was an English writer and early colonial advocate who immigrated to Maryland in 1658. Growing up in England during the tumultuous English Civil War, Alsop was a loyalist to the crown and faced unease under the Puritan rule of Oliver Cromwell. He became an indentured servant to Thomas Stockett and worked in the countryside near Baltimore, developing a deep appreciation for the colony. Despite a brief stay of only four years, Alsop published a significant work titled *A Character of the Province of Maryland*, which both praised the colony's natural beauty and detailed various aspects of life there.
The treatise is divided into several parts, addressing the province's situation, laws, the life of servants, and trade, while also offering insights into the culture and customs of the Susquehanna people. Although his writing occasionally veers into exaggeration, it remains a valuable historical document that captures the early colonial experience and the challenges faced by indentured servants. After returning to England, Alsop did not produce further works on Maryland or America, leading to some distinction between him and another author of the same name who published a book of sermons later on.
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George Alsop
Writer
- Born: June 1, 1636
- Birthplace: Westminster parish, near London, England
- Died: c. 1673
- Place of death: England
Biography
George Alsop grew up in England during the years of the English Civil War. A loyalist to the crown, he felt uneasy at life under the Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell and signed on as an indentured servant in order to immigrate to Maryland in 1658. Alsop worked for his master, Thomas Stockett, in the countryside near Baltimore and fell in love with the colony. Although treated kindly by Stockett, Alsop grew ill in the latter days of his service to Stockett and soon returned to England. He had been away from England for only four years.
Although Alsop’s early apprenticeship in London and his experience as an indentured servant indicate that he was of working class origins, he nevertheless demonstrated in his writings that he was widely read and at least somewhat educated. For, despite his short tenure in Maryland, Alsop’s love for the colony was such that he wrote a treatise on the area urging others to emigrate there. He published the work a few years after his return to London. Generally referred to as A Character of the Province of Mary-land, the full title is actually A Character of the Province of Mary-Land, Wherein Is Described in Four Distinct Parts (Viz.) I. The Situation and Plenty of the Province. II. The Laws, Customs, and Natural Demeanor of the Inhabitant. III. The Worst and Best Usage of a Mary-Land Servant, Opened in View. IV. The Traffique and Vendable Commodities of the Countrey. Also a Small Treatise on the Wilde and Naked Indians (Or Susquehanokes) of Mary-Land, Their Customs, Manners, Absurdities, and Religion, Together with a Collection of Historical Letters.
Throughout A Character of the Province of Mary-land, Alsop shows himself to be a fervent enthusiast for Maryland, frequently praising the natural beauties and fertility of his adopted colony, occasionally to the point of exaggeration. Nevertheless, Alsop’s book is of particular historical significance in its portrayal of the early days of the colony. The treatise is especially valuable in its vivid descriptions of Susquehanna culture and for its depiction of the day-to-day life of an indentured servant and newly arrived colonist to the New World. Alsop did not write any more works about Maryland or the American colonies. A book of sermons was published several years later by a man of the same name, but there is some debate among historians whether the authors are the same George Alsop.