Robert Burle (ca. 1610-1676)
MSA SC 3520-184
Clerk, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court
Biography:
Robert Burle was born around 1610 and immigrated to the colonies around 1649.1 The first mention of a Robert Burle in Maryland land records is found in 1650 in Maryland Index 54 of Land Patents. Index 54 lists a 200-acre tract of land patented to Burle entitled Burle Banks.2 This piece of property, however, is not mentioned in Burle's will which he wrote twenty-two years later.3 Burle is mentioned several times in the early records of the Maryland General Assembly found in the Archives of Maryland Online beginning in 1658. These records show that Burle held several positions including Anne Arundel County Commissioner, Anne Arundel County Judge, and member of the Lower House of the General Assembly.4 In this last position, held in the early 1660s, Burle created some controversy. He was accused of, and later admitted to, writing a pamphlet that included mutinous and seditious language. He was asked to resign his voting priveleges in the body until the situation was resolved. He was ordered to ask for a pardon from the Lower House.5
Although historian Donnell MacClure Owings states that historian Henry Hollyday Goldsborough listed Andrew Skinner as the Anne Arundel County Court Clerk from 1650-1658 in his mansuscript "List of Civil Officers of Maryland," Owings admits that he has found no evidence to support this claim. In one copy, located at the Maryland State Archives, of Owings' book His Lordship's Patronage, someone had hand-written two additional clerks into the margin of the section on Anne Arundel County Court Clerks.6 Robert Burle was one of those names. Examination of several volumes of the Anne Arundel County Land Records has shown that Burle signed deeds as Clerk of Anne Arundel County. His signature appeared in October 1652, February 1653, and December 1656.7 This evidence contradicts Goldsborough's original claim that Skinner served as Clerk from 1650-1658. Perhaps Skinner did serve during those years, but for some reason he had to be replaced for a short period.
Burle was married to a woman named Mary. The couple had several
children: Robert, John, Stephen, Rebecca, Sussanna, Mary, and Elizabeth.8
Burle wrote his will in 1672. He probably died in 1676, for his son
Stephen signed as having executed the will in that year. Burle willed
the land and plantation of Burle's Hill to Stephen. To Rebecca, he
willed the house and land in Broadneck called Burle's Towneland.
He left cattle to Sussanna, Mary, and Elizabeth.9
The estimated value of Burle's estate was 15,884 pounds in tobacco, and
after debts, 1103 pounds in tobacco. His inventory included cows,
chickens, pigs, horses, sundry household items, and three servants who
were almost free.10
No records found in: Index 6, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32
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