Source: Edward C. Papenfuse, et al.,
Archives of Maryland, Historical
List,
new series, Vol. 1. Annapolis, MD: Maryland State Archives,
1990.
The Secretary in Maryland functioned primarily as clerk for the Governor and Council. He recorded their
proceedings, which included land grants and official appointments, and maintained essential papers. The secretary
also collected proprietary revenue and issued marriage licenses. After 1644 he had custody of the lesser seal of
the province. The secretary held several other titles in the seventeenth century, including surveyor general,
attorney general, commissary general, naval officer, and rent roll keeper. Colonial growth resulted in these becoming
separate offices by 1689. After royal government was established in Maryland in 1692, the secretary, like other royal
officers, had no proprietary duties, but over the objections of the lord proprietor's agent and receiver general,
took possession of the patent records and assumed the Land Office duties of the former proprietary secretary.
Beginning in 1706 the secretariat was divided between a principal secretary in England and a deputy secretary in
Maryland. The deputy did the work and received the fees generated by the office, paying a fixed sum to the principal
secretary as a sinecure.
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Principal Secretaries, in Maryland | |||
1637-1648 | John Lewger | St. Mary's City | |
1648-1654 | Thomas Hatton | St. Mary's County | |
1654-1656 | William Durand | Anne Arundel County | |
1656-1660 | Philip Calvert | St. Mary's City | |
1660-1661 | Col. Henry Coursey | Kent County | |
1661-1665 | Col. Henry Sewall | St. Mary's County | |
1665 | Charles Calvert | St. Mary's City | |
1666-1667 | Richard Boughton | Charles County | |
1667-1669 | Charles Calvert | St. Mary's City | |
1669-1670 | Col. William Calvert | St. Mary's City | |
1670-1673 | William Talbot | St. Mary's City & Cartown, County Kildare, Ireland | |
1673 | Charles Calvert | St. Mary's City | |
1673/74-1682 | Col. William Calvert | St. Mary's City | |
1682/83-1684 | Maj. Nicholas Sewall | St. Mary's County | |
1682/83-1684 | John Darnall | Anne Arundel County | |
1684-1685 | Maj. Nicholas Sewall | St. Mary's County | |
1685-1689 | Maj. Nicholas Sewall | St. Mary's County | |
1685-1689 | Col. William Digges | St. Mary's County | |
1692-1693 | Sir Thomas Lawrence | Chelsea, Middlesex, England | |
1694-1698 | Sir Thomas Lawrence | Chelsea, Middlesex, England | |
1698/99-1701 | Thomas Lawrence, Jr. | Annapolis | |
1701 | Col. William Bladen | Annapolis | |
1701-1705/06 | Sir Thomas Lawrence | Chelsea, Middlesex, England | |
Principal Secretaries, in England | |||
1705/06-1714 | Sir Thomas Lawrence | Chelsea, Middlesex | |
1714-1715 | Thomas Beake | London | |
1715-1729/30 | Thomas Beake | London | |
1715-1729 | Charles Lowe | Denby, Derbyshire | |
1729/30-1732/33 | Thomas Beake | London | |
1729/30-1732/33 | Cecilius Calvert | London | |
1732/33-1740/41 | William Janssen | London | |
1740/41-1751 | John Browning | Epsom, Surrey | |
1751-1765 | Cecilius Calvert | London | |
1765-1776 | Hugh Hamersley | London & Oxford | |
Deputy Secretaries, in Maryland | |||
1671-1673 | Robert Ridgely | St. Mary's City | |
1694-1696 | Col. Thomas Brooke, II | Prince George's County | |
1705/06-1731/32 | Col. Philemon Lloyd, II | Talbot County | |
1733-1753 | Edmund Jennings | Annapolis | |
1754-1755 | Col. George Plater, II | St. Mary's County | |
1755 | Dr. George Steuart | Annapolis | |
1756-1760 | Col. Benjamin Tasker. | Annapolis | |
1760-1761 | John Ridout | Annapolis | |
1761-1776 | Daniel Dulany, Jr. | Annapolis |
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