82 PREROGATIVE COURT RECORDS

Two years later, the Assembly passed a law bestowing the office
of Commissary General upon the "Divine or Commissary" expected
from the Bishop of London. The law required the Governor upon
the arrival here and application by the "said Divine" to grant and
confirm the office to him. It was stipulated, however, that he must
be a resident of the Province and not exercise the office by deputy
or representative.² On October 3, 1698, the Bishop of London issued
a commission to Thomas Bray, D.D., as Commissary for the Province
of Maryland.³ Eventually the long-awaited Commissary did arrive.
On May 4,1700, Dr. Bray appeared before the Governor and Council
in support of Edward Dorsey's petition for the remission of a fine.⁴
But on June 27, 1700, the Governor announced to his council that
Dr. Bray having gone to England he, the Governor, had conferred
the Commissary's Office upon Thomas Brooke, one of the Council.
At the same time, he asserted he was willing that upon the return
of Bray or "any other qualified person sent in by the right Reverend
the Lord Bishop of London" he "should enjoy that office."⁵ Bray
does not appear in the records of the Prerogative Court at all,
probably because he confined his attention to strictly religious
problems and did not apply for the office of Commissary General as
required by the law of 1696. In any case neither Bray nor any
other Commissary returned to take advantage of the Governor's
offer.⁶

ORIGIN AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE
PREROGATIVE COURT

The Prerogative Court did not spring into existence, a full-
fledged court. Like the other institutions of the Province, it was
the product of a gradual evolution, influenced by the customs of the
home country and the needs of the new. Its origin can be traced
back to the Charter granted to Lord Baltimore in 1632. In it, he
was given complete control over the colony, including authority in
religious matters comparable to that of the Bishop of Durham.

¹ Ibid., XXXVIII, 92.

² Ibid., XXV, 11.

³ Ibid., XXIV, 62.

⁴ Ibid., XXV, 95.

⁵ For a more thorough discussion of the religious aspects of the office of
commissary general and of the efforts to place it under the control of the
church, see Edith E. MacQueen, "The Commissary in Colonial Maryland"
(Md. Hist. Mag., XXV, 190-206).