Clerks of Courts before June 1, 1945, are being microfilmed by the
Land Office (Code 1947 Supp., Art. 17, secs. 72C, 72D).

All land now included in the limits of the State of Maryland was
granted to Cecil, Lord Baltimore, in 1632. In 1680, there was estab-
lished a Land Office, and four years later "The Land Council". This
body was authorized to hear and determine all matters relating to
land. Four years later when Maryland became a crown colony, the
Land Office was closed. In 1715, after a long contest with the Gover-
nor and Council, the Secretary and the Assembly, the Lord Proprietor
emerged with his rights restored, and the Land Office was reopened.
After the Revolution, the State assumed the control of the Land
Office (Act of Assembly of April Sess. 1777). From 1781 until 1841,
there was a Land Office for the Western Shore and another for the
Eastern Shore. The Constitution of 1851 created the office of the
Commissioner of the Land Office.

Expenditures, 1950 $29,935.84
Appropriation, 1951 31,316.00

Staff: 7

HALL OF RECORDS COMMISSION

Chairman: Ogle Marbury, Chief Judge Court of Appeals

Theodore R. McKeldin, Governor; J. Millard Tawes, Comp-
troller; Detlev W. Bronk, President, The Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity; Richard D. Weigle, President, St. John's College;
William L. Marbury, President, Board of Peabody Institute;
George L. Radcliffe, President, Maryland Historical Society.

Morris L. Radoff, Archivist
Gust Skordas, Assistant Archivist
Roger Thomas, Assistant Archivist

Hall of Records, Annapolis Telephone: Annapolis 4111

The Hall of Records Commission was created by an act of the Gen-
eral Assembly in 1935. The Commission is an ex-officio body com-
posed of the Governor, the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, the
Comptroller, the President of The Johns Hopkins University, the
President of St. John's College, the President of the Maryland His-
torical Society, and the President of the Board of Trustees of the
Peabody Institute (Code 1939, Art. 41, sec. 123). The Commission
supervises and controls the Hall of Records and appoints the Archivist,
who is responsible for the functioning of the agency.

All public officials and all agencies of the State, as well as the
counties, cities and towns of Maryland are authorized to deposit at
the Hall of Records all records and documents not in current use. It
is required, however, that all records, which are in the courthouses
of the State and which were created prior to April 28, 1788, the date
of ratification of the United States Constitution by the State of Mary-
land, be deposited at the Hall of Records (Code 1947 Supp., Art. 41,