Thomas Notley ( Cerne Abbas, Dorset, England 1632 - 3 April 1679) was the 8th Proprietary Governor 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 1676 through 1679. Having first moved to Barbados he immigrated to America in 1662. He was the speaker of the legislature in 1666. He and fellow Barbadian immigrant

Jesse Wharton Jesse Wharton (July 29, 1782July 22, 1833) was an Lawyer, attorney who briefly represented Tennessee in each house of United States Congress, Congress. Biography Wharton was born in Covesville, Albemarle County, Virginia; studied law at Dickinso ...

passed slave codes similar to those in Barbados that punished those who helped in the escape of a slave or who stole and kept another planter’s slave for themselves. In 1663, Notley purchased a 500 acre tenancy from

Thomas Gerrard Thomas Gerard (1500?–1540) (Gerrard, also Garret or Garrard) was an English Protestant reformer. In 1540, he was burnt to death for heresy, along with William Jerome and Robert Barnes. Life He matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, ...

on St. Clement's manor, followed by an additional 1800 acres from

Duddington Manor Duddington is a small village in Northamptonshire, England. It is by the junction of the A47 and A43 roads, and is southwest of the town of Stamford. The village is on the east bank of the River Welland which is the county boundary of Rutland ...

and adjoining tracts. These were eventually combined into the single holding Cerne Abbas Manor, where Notley Hall was built, now near

Maddox, Maryland Maddox is an unincorporated community in St. Mary's County, 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 we ...

. He was appointed to succeed Wharton by the colony's proprietor, Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore. Calvert arrived in the colony in January 1678 or 1679, but appears to have allowed Notley to retain his title until Notley's death in April, 1679, when Calvert assumed the mantle of governor himself. His personal wealth at the time of his death included 29 slaves, 7 servants, and more than 3750 acres of land. Some sources report that Notley had no heirs and never married, whereas another reports that his daughter married

Benjamin Rozier Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

(also spelt Rozer). Notley Hall was left to Charles Calvert and Benjamin Rozier, and became the possession of the

Rozier family Rozier is a surname of French origin. List of people surnamed Rozier *Clifford Rozier (1972–2018), American basketball player *François Rozier, French botanist * George Rozier, American politician *Jacques Rozier, French film director * J. A. D ...

, likely from Benjamin Rozier's son,

Notley Rozier Notley may refer to: ;People: *Alice Notley (born 1945), American poet * Bernarr Notley (born 1918), former English cricketer * Bruce Notley-Smith (born 1964), Australian politician, Councillor and former Mayor of the City of Randwick * Charles Not ...

, sometime after. Other sources report that Notley Rozier was Thomas Notley's godson, without explicitly stating a biological relation. Notley seems to have been popular as a large number of individuals were christened with Notley as a given name. In his will, written four years before his death, he listed at least five beneficiaries with the name Notley: Notley Maddox, Notlea Goldsmith (daughter of John Goldsmith), Notley Warren, a Thomas Notley Goldsmith, and Notley Rozier.

References

See also