born 0441; 1587, Westmorland County, Eng.
died 0441; 1677, Virginia
American colonial trader and public official.
Emigrating to Virginia in 1621, he was appointed secretary of state of the colony and a member of the governor's royal council. He traded with the Indians of Chesapeake Bay and in 1631 established a successful trading post on Kent Island. Denied his claim to the island, he incited a revolt (1644) that ousted the Maryland governor and left Claiborne in charge of the colony until 1646. From 1652 to 1657 he was a member of the commission that governed Maryland.