Archives of Maryland
Historical List
Land Office Judges, 1738-1777

Source: Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., Archives of Maryland, Historical List,
new series, Vol. 1. Annapolis, MD: Maryland State Archives, 1990.

Prior to the creation of the position of Judge of the Land Office, authority over the colony's land records was held principally
by the Secretary of Maryland, and for a time some power devolved to the Chancellor.

See Donnell M. Owings, His Lordship's Patronage: Offices of Profit in Colonial Maryland, pps. 81-84.
 

Land Office Judges, 1738-1777
1738-1743/44		Col. Levin Gale	Somerset County
1743/44-1746		Philip Thomas	Anne Arundel County
1746-1747		Benjamin Tasker, Sr.[1] Benjamin Young, Sr.	Annapolis Prince George's County
1747-1754		Benjamin Young, Sr. [2] Dr. George Steuart	Prince George'sCounty Annapolis
1754-1755		Dr. George Steuart	Annapolis
1755-1775		Dr. George Steuart [3] Benedict Calvert	Annapolis Prince George's County
1775-1777		Benedict Calvert [4]	Prince George's County

1. Tasker and Young appointed together in 1746. Tasker resigned the following year. See Owings, p. 169.

2. Young and Steuart appointed to office together in 1747. Young died in 1754, and Steuart held the office alone 1754-1755,
until the appointment of Benedict Calvert as the other Judge. See Owings, ibid.

3. Steuart left Maryland in 1775 to return to his home in Scotland at the onset of the Revolution. See Owings, ibid.

4. Calvert was forced out of his office by the Council of Safety in 1777. See Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Safety.
See Owings, ibid.