xl         Early Maryland County Courts.

           incident to the civil wars, the Governor seems to have appointed sheriffs directly.
           At a Kent court held August 12, 1652, at Mr. Francis Lumbard's house, this
           gentleman was appointed sheriff by that court (Arch. Md. liv, 8). In Febru
           ary 1652/3, Gov. Stone sent through his Attorney-General, Thomas Hatton,
           a commission to Thomas Bradnox as Sheriff of Kent (Arch. Md. liv, 21), and
           immediately following the Fendall “rebellion “, Gov. Philip Calvert, Novem
           ber 23, 166o, appointed new justices for Kent, and at the same time made
           Anthony Griffin sheriff (Arch. Md. liv, 199).
            Down to the year 1666 it was not unusual for the offices of sheriff and county
           clerk to be combined. Abuses had apparently arisen for, as previously stated,
           in that year the Assembly passed an act prohibiting thereafter the same individ
           ual from holding both offices, and at the same session another act was passed
           prohibiting either the sheriff or the clerk from acting as an attorney in his own
           court (Arch. Md. ii, 132-133). The fees of sheriffs were regulated by acts
           passed by the Assembly in 1642 1650, 1654, 1657, and 1669 (Arch. Md. i, 163,
           289, 350, 360; ii, 222).
            On August 22, 1655, we find the Provincial Court, then composed of the
           Commonwealth commissioners, appointing Samson Waring High Sheriff and
           James Veitch Sheriff of St. Mary's, as well as of the two now obselete counties
           of Patuxent and Potomac (Arch. Md. iii, 318). In 1658 Nicholas Gwyther was
           also appointed sheriff of two counties, St. Mary's and the recently established
           Charles County (Arch. Md. xli, 86). Veitch was obviously a deputy sheriff.
           In September 1668 the sheriff of Somerset County recorded the appointment of
           a deputy sheriff to assist him in his duties (Arch. Md. liv, 724), and in 1671
           an act was passed prohibiting deputy sheriffs from acting as attorneys in their
           own court (Arch. Md. ii, 322-323). The court crier is mentioned several times,
           once when a certain Edward Swettnam, June, 1676, was sworn in as a deputy
           sheriff, and at the same time appointed crier by the Kent County Court, and
           criers are also referred to in Talbot County (Arch. Md. liv, 341, 578, 595).
            The sheriff was liable for damages and mistakes in executing the duties of
           his office. There are a number of suits against sheriffs for damages, where in
           civil cases that officer had failed to produce in court defendants or witnesses
           for whom a warrant or writ had been issued, or where he had allowed to escape
           from his bailiwick a debtor upon whose personal property the court had ordered
           execution (pp. 13, 83, 184, 385, 414, 459, 496; Arch. Md. liv, 153, 395, 403,
           420, 460, 467, 476, 563, 577, 596, 589). The law of 1671 provided that in
           cases where the sheriff was a party to a suit, or where for any reason he was
           subject to arrest, the coroner was to act against him (Arch. Md. ii, 292-294).
            Until the year 1666 the office of coroner in Maryland seems to have been
           usually, if not always, combined in the same individual with that of sheriff,
           or sometimes with that of constable. The Assembly that met in March 1638/9
           passed an act entitled “An Act for the appointmt of Certain Officers “, which,
           owing to a disagreement between the Assembly and the Governor as to the
           method of initiating legislation, like all the other acts passed at this session,
           failed to become a law, but serves as a guide to the way in which the handling
           of civil and legal affairs was tending. This act provided that any inhabitant,