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


Notes:

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.


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