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OF COLONIAL MARYLAND 91
to the Commissioner of the Land Office, who had recently moved into
his quarters in the new Court of Appeals building.37 In June 1935,
the Commissioner of the Land Office moved into the newly-erected
Hall of Records building taking the records with him. A few months
later, in December 1935, he transferred the Prerogative Court
records to the custody of the Hall of Records Commission, where
they now remain.
EFFORTS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE RECORDS
With the possible exception of the land records, no set of Mary-
land records had received more attention than those of the Pre-
rogative Court Since adequate repair facilities were not developed
until very recently, earlier efforts toward preservation of the records
consisted mainly of transcribing damaged pages or whole volumes
and replacing worn bindings. As early as 1716, the General Assembly
passed a law appointing several commissioners to examine and
have repaired the records of the Province.38 By virtue of this law,
a good many of the records in the Commissary General's Office were
rebound or given other attention. In a number of instances, two or
more of the old libers were bound together, probably in the interest
of economy. A committee of both houses of the Assembly was ap-
pointed in 1728 to inspect the work done by the commissioners. The
report of the committee listing the volumes repaired and showing
what was done to them was entered in the proceedings of the Lower
House.39
Another extensive repair project was carried out in 1834, when
the General Assembly authorized the Register of Wills for Anne
Arundel County to have transcribed and rebound any of the pro-
vincial records in his office.40 A similar law was passed in 1874
authorizing further repair work on the Prerogative Court records.41
Soon after the records were transfered to the Land Office, the
legislature appropriated $6,000 for the restoration of State records.42
As a result of this law, the entire set of Prerogative Court records
was rebound, each series in a distinctive color. In addition, four
37 Hall of Records, Catalogue of Archival Material, p. 53.
38 Bacon's Laws, 1716. ch. 1.
39 Arch. Md., XXXVI, 236.
40 Laws of Md., 1834, ch. 147.
41 Ibid., 1874, ch. 381.
41 Ibid., 1908, ch. 606.
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