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15 Facts About Robert Plunkett

1.

Robert Plunkett was an English Catholic priest and Jesuit missionary to the United States who became the first president of Georgetown College.

2.

Robert Plunkett oversaw construction of the college's first building, the appointment of the first professor, and admission of the first student, William Gaston.

3.

Robert Plunkett spent the remainder of his life ministering in rural Maryland, though continued to remain involved in the college's affairs.

4.

Robert Plunkett was educated at the Colleges of St Omer and Bruges from 1763 to 1768, before attending the English College at Douai.

5.

Robert Plunkett frequently went ashore while the ship was in port in Santa Cruz.

6.

Robert Plunkett laid to rest the concerns of the local ecclesiastical authorities, who learned of a rumor that the Carmelite sisters were nuns fleeing their monastery with the aid of the two priests.

7.

Robert Plunkett then departed Neale and the Carmelites and continued his journey to Maryland by land.

8.

Robert Plunkett initially sought to name a distinguished English ex-Jesuit as the head of the college, such as Charles Plowden or Robert Molyneux, but they were unwilling to assume the position.

9.

Robert Plunkett oversaw the division of the school into three parts: elementary, preparatory, and college.

10.

Robert Plunkett increasingly preferred the plantation life of the former Jesuits in rural Maryland, and became dissatisfied with administering the college.

11.

Robert Plunkett was later stationed in Prince George's County, Maryland, including for a time as pastor of the church in Bladensburg.

12.

Robert Plunkett was in charge of Queen's Chapel, a Catholic chapel built on the Queen family estate in Prince George's County.

13.

Robert Plunkett was named as one of five original members of Georgetown's board of directors, upon its creation in 1797; he would remain a director until 1808.

14.

Robert Plunkett died on January 15,1815, at Notley Hall in St Mary's County, Maryland, near the settlement of Chaptico.

15.

Robert Plunkett was interred in the crypt of the Georgetown Visitation Monastery.