Background
He was born in London, England and educated at Trinity College, Oxford, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1619.
He was born in London, England and educated at Trinity College, Oxford, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1619.
Trinity College.
He is considered the father of the Maryland Bar. At college, he met Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, a connection that would serve him well. He joined Trinity College"s faculty in 1632.
He argued his first case on December 30, 1637 in the Provincial Court.
In 1638, he set up house in Saint Mary"s, then Maryland"s capital. He served in the Maryland House of Burgesses (the forerunner of the Maryland General Assembly) from 1637 to 1642, of which he was made Clerk.
lieutenant was during this period that wife died. In 1644, he was made Secretary of the Province.
In this latter role, during the absence of Governor Leonard Calvert, he dispatched a military party to negotiate peace with the Susquehannock tribe.
He simultaneously held several provincial offices, including Commissioner in Causes Testamentary, Surveyor General, Collector and Receiver of Rents, and Justice of Saint Mary"s County. While he was Secretary, Lewger acted as counsel to Lord Baltimore and was Attorney General of the province. When Saint Mary"s town was attacked by Richard Ingle in 1645, Lewger"s home was ransacked and he was taken prisoner and transported back to England.
After a stint as a prisoner, he was released and returned to Maryland.
He served in the Upper House (the forerunner of the Maryland Senate) from 1646 to 1647. During the English Civil War, whilst King Charles I of England was held prisoner by Parliament, Lewger was directed to collect and safeguard the King"s private possessions in the province.
He also wrote several books He died during the Great Plague of London in 1665 and was interred in a mass grave.