The Chancellor of Maryland was the highest judicial office in the
state
State may refer to:
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of
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
from before the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
until the state's High Court of Chancery ceased to exist, on June 4, 1854.
The High Court of Chancery of Maryland was organized around the time of the American Revolution to take the place of its prototype, the
High Court of Chancery of England.
[William J. Marbury,]
The High Court of Chancery and the Chancellors of Maryland
, Report of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Maryland State Bar Association, (1905), p. 137-155. During the colonial period,
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...
had granted
Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (8 August 1605 – 30 November 1675), also often known as Cecilius Calvert, was an English nobleman, who was the first Proprietor of the Province of Maryland, ninth Proprietary Governor of the Colony of Newf ...
, the authority to establish judicial tribunals in the Province of Maryland.
Calvert appointed his brother,
Leonard Calvert
The Hon. Leonard Calvert (1606 – June 9, 1647) was the first proprietary governor of the Province of Maryland. He was the second son of The 1st Baron Baltimore (1579–1632), the first proprietor of Maryland. His elder brother Cecil (1605â ...
, to this office.
Leonard Calvert's successors were appointed by the Lords Proprietary, and exercised powers and functions similar to those of its English counterpart.
When America declared independence, the citizens of Maryland opted to retain this judicial structure, the only change being that the Chancellor would be appointed by the Governor of the State, by and with the consent of the council, and should hold his office during good behavior.
Section 30 of the
Maryland Declaration of Rights The Maryland Declaration of Rights is series of statements establishing certain rights for people in Maryland. The Declaration of Rights opens the Maryland Constitution and has appeared in some form in all Maryland Constitutions since the first ver ...
adopted at that time discusses the role of the Chancellor:
The first Chancellor of Maryland,
Richard Sprigg, was directly appointed by the Maryland General Assembly, on April 3, 1777, as a governor had not yet been elected at that time.
Sprigg was sworn into office on April 21, 1777. Sprigg resigned on March 20, 1778, having never issued a decree (in part because the courts saw little activity during the war), and was replaced by John Rogers of
Prince George's County
)
, demonym = Prince Georgian
, ZIP codes = 20607–20774
, area codes = 240, 301
, founded date = April 23
, founded year = 1696
, named for = Prince George of Denmark
, leader_title = Executive
, leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...
, who assumed office on the day of Sprigg's resignation.
Other notable holders of this office include
Alexander Contee Hanson Sr.,
William Kilty, and
Theodorick Bland.
The High Court of Chancery ceased to exist on the June 4th, 1854.
List of chancellors
References
{{reflist
External links
The High Court of Chancery and the Chancellors of Maryland by William L. Marbury, Presented to the Maryland State Bar Association at the 1905 Annual Meeting, available at Maryland State Archives.
*
State constitutional officers of Maryland