Colonial Period, State & Local, Maritime, Legal History, United States, Law, Admiralty, American General Law, General Law 

"Courts of Admiralty in Colonial America examines the admiralty law system as it was transmitted from England to America. It is based on extensive manuscript research conducted on both sides of the Atlantic. Though the emphasis is on the Maryland experience, the authors make comparisons with developments in England and in other colonies. The result is an interpretation of an area of law and authority in early America which is relevant to a national history of law." "The format of this book makes it attractive to both the general reader, interested in the bearing of the colonial period on the development of American law in the early years of the Republic, and the specialist, interested in how these courts worked, who used them and with what results. The main text describes how the unique features of the English admiralty appeared, or failed to appear, in colonial America and came to influence federal admiralty law and practice today. Also included are several valuable appendices: summaries and analyses of nearly 150 cases, never collected before, involving disputes of a maritime nature appearing in the records of Maryland's courts; the transcription of the record of a classic maritime case; and the translation from the Latin of several vice admiralty commissions."--BOOK JACKET. 

Silver Oar of the Admiralty
Ch. 1. Characteristic Features of the Admiralty
Ch. 2. Overview of the Colonial Courts of Vice Admiralty
Ch. 3. Legal Bases of Maryland's Admiralty Courts
Ch. 4. Evolution of Maryland's Courts of Admiralty and Vice Admiralty
Ch. 5. Navigation Acts Cases
Ch. 6. Instance, Prize and Piracy Cases
Ch. 7. Personnel, Practice and Procedure
Ch. 8. Toward a Theory of Continuity in the Development of American Admiralty Law
Appendix A Case Summaries
Appendix B Record of the Ship Ann of Newcastle (1692)
Appendix C Commission Tables
Appendix D Governor Lionel Copley
Appendix E Nicholas Greenberry
Appendix F Daniel Dulany, Sr.
Appendix G Governor Horatio Sharpe's "Commission" as Vice Admiral
Appendix H A Bill for Erecting a Court of Admiralty (1639).
 

Published in association with the Maryland Historical Society.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 389-407) and index.