Using The New Early Settlers of Maryland
Below is a table of the books and their microfilms
The New Early Settlers refers to, the books of the period
1633-1681 entitled "Patents" and one of 1681-1685 entitled
"Warrants." The microfilms can be ordered from the Maryland State
Archives. The original books before 1658 are gone, but their
transcripts, made about 1725, survive. For most of the rest of the
period the Archives' has both transcripts and originals. As the
transcripts are mostly accurate and the handwriting of the 1720s
is easier to read than that of the mid-seventeenth century, the
reader is advised to use the transcripts. The earliest spelling of
a name, whether in an original record or in a transcript, is taken
as the norm. When a spelling in a transcript differs from a
spelling in the original record, it is retained in parentheses.
Every entry comprises a name, remarks, and at least one reference,
including a microfilm number. This reference, right under the
name, is to the earliest original record if there is an original
record, or if there is not, to the earliest transcript. Most
entries include additional references, right under remarks,
labeled "Original" or "Transcript." All these references are
related to one another both by the table and by the pagination of
the transcripts. The table shows which transcripts are of which
originals. The transcripts have their own page numbers at the tops
of the pages and, most of them, the page numbers of the originals
in the margins.
The dates of this period are of the Julian calendar, which Great
Britain and its colonies used until 1752. According to it, the old
year ended on the 24th of March and the new year began on the
25th. So instead of being the first months of the year, January
and February were the last. (Though most of March also was at the
end of the old year, it was considered the first month of the
new.) To put it another way, October, November, and December of,
say, 1634, came before January, February, and most of March of
1634.
The dates of only a few transportations and times of service are
stated in the records. The dates of most are known only from the
dates of the records they are in; that is, all that is known is
that they occurred by these dates. This distinction is not
hair-splitting. If, for instance, one entry for Charles Aldridge
says he was transported in 1661 and another says in 1669, there
must be two Charles Aldridges. But if the two entries say by 1661
and by 1669, there may be but one. Whereas
Early Settlers does not observe this distinction,
The New Early Settlers does.
In these records, "transport" means pay for the transportation of.
Most settlers were transported by somebody else. A few transported
themselves. Early Settlers uses "immigrated" - a term not
used in the records - to mean transported himself.
The New Early Settlers uses "transported himself."