John Hart

John Hart (died ) was a British colonial administrator who served as the governor of Maryland from 1714 to 1715 and again from 1715 to 1720, after the restoration of proprietary control to Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. His governorship marked the beginnings of the restoration of the Calvert family's control of Maryland.

Early life and family John Hart was born in Ireland into an Anglo-Irish family. He was a native of County Cavan. He was the son of Merrick Hart, of Crovert, and his wife Lettice Vesey. His maternal uncle was Archbishop John Vesey. Very few details of his early life survive, other than the fact that he served in Spain and Portugal during the War of the Spanish Succession.

John Hart married the widow Mary Purefoy, daughter of Henry Hart and Anne Beresford, daughter of Sir Tristram Beresford, 1st Baronet. They had two children: a son Thomas, and a daughter Marylandia. and he therefore converted to Anglicanism, deciding to "embrace the protestant religion", and gambling that this move would win back his family's lost fortune in the New World.

Governor of the Leeward Islands After the end of his time as governor of Maryland, Hart was appointed governor of the Leeward Islands, a position which he held from 1721–1727. He was succeeded in the position by Thomas Pitt, 1st Earl of Londonderry.