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The Prerogative Court was the focal point for probate in colonial Maryland. All matters of probate went directly to the Prerogative Court, which was located in Annapolis, Maryland’s colonial capital. The Prerogative Court was also the colony’s court for equity cases--resolution of disputes over the settlement and distribution of an estate.

Compiler Vernon Skinner has just completed the twentieth volume in a series of books based upon this important source for Maryland genealogists, entitled Abstracts of the Testamentary Proceedings of the Prerogative Court of Maryland. In compiling the series, Mr. Skinner has worked primarily from microfilm copies of the Prerogative Court records; however, he has also traveled to the Maryland State Archives to work directly with the original manuscripts in order to resolve problems associated with 18th-century handwriting or limitations of the microfilming process.

The series is arranged, volume by volume, chronologically by court session. Volume XX consists of abstracts for the period 1734-36, as found in the balance of Liber 29 and the first 207 pages of Liber 30 of the records. In all, this book refers to an additional 7,500 inhabitants of the Province of Maryland in the years just prior to 1736. For the most part, the transcriptions state the names of the principals (testators, heirs, witnesses, administrators, and so forth), as well as details of bequests, names of slaves, appraisers, and more.

Following is a representative abstract from Volume XX:

“2 December 1735. Moses Rawlings & John Diskin administrators of Robert Lewett (PG) vs. George Buchanan & his wife Margaret & John Levett. Sheriff (PG) to summon defendants to show cause why they conceal effects of dec’d.�

See also the other volumes in this series:
Volume I: 1658-1674
Volume II: 1670-1674
Volume III: 1675–1677 and 1703–1704
Volume IV: 1677-1682 and 1702-1704
Volume V: 1682-1686
Volume VI: 1686-1689 and 1692-1693
Volume VII: 1693-1697
Volume VIII: 1697-1700
Volume IX: 1700-1703
Volume X: 1704–1707
Volume XI: 1703-1704 and 1708-1709
Volume XII: 1709-1712
Volume XIII 1712-1716
Volume XIV: 1716-1719
Volume XV: 1719-1721
Volume XVI: 1721-1724
Volume XVII: 1724-1727
Volume XVIII: 1727-1730
Volume XIX: 1730-1734
Volume XXI: 1736-1739
Volume XXI: 1736-1739