Daniel Dulany

Dulany, Daniel (dyūlā'nē), 1685-1753, political leader of colonial Maryland, b. Ireland. He emigrated to Maryland c.1703, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He entered the assembly in 1722 and remained a member for 20 years, becoming a leader of the colonists in opposition to the proprietor. When the proprietor vetoed (1722) a bill passed by the Maryland assembly that would have introduced English statute law into the colony, Dulany denounced his action as a violation of the charter. To win Dulany over, the proprietor appointed him his agent and receiver general in 1733, a judge of admiralty in 1734, and commissary general in 1736. He was also appointed to the council in 1742 and served in that body until his death. His son, Daniel Dulany, 1722-97, was educated in England. He gained prominence as a colonial politician in Maryland and was probably the most celebrated lawyer in the American colonies. Dulany opposed the Stamp Act in his Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing Taxes in the British Colonies. He lost his popularity, however, when in 1773 he engaged in newspaper controversy with Charles Carroll in defense of the fees exacted by government officials for performing certain services. Dulany was a Loyalist during the Revolution and most of his property was confiscated by the state in 1781.

Bibliography

See A. C. Land, The Dulanys of Maryland (1955, repr. 1974).