Career
On September 3, 1769, he arrived at Annapolis and immediately assumed the duties of secretary to the governor.
He traveled on the Eastern Shore and to the back woods of the Western Shore.
With the governor he visited many of the leading families.
In 1772, Eddis was appointed a commissioner of the loan office.
He also held the office of surveyor of the customs at Annapolis.
Prospering under the governor’s favor, he was anxious for the entire repeal of the Townshend revenue acts in order that cordial relations between the colonists and the mother country might be restored.
He did not deny that the grievances of the colonists were genuine but contended that the measures adopted to obtain redress were not justified on "principles of reason or sound policy. "
He made an appeal for "common sense and common equity" in a communication to the Maryland Gazette (Annapolis) which was published February 16, 1775, over the signature, "A Friend to Amity, " and reprinted in other colonies.
On the departure of his wife and son for England, in September 1775, Eddis became one of the family of Governer Eden, who advised him to remain as long as the proprietary government was in any degree acknowledged and continued.
When summoned before the committee of observation, in June 1776, to give security for his behavior or leave the province, he declared that such security was incompatible with his oath of office.
The committee proposed to give him only a few weeks to remain, but the adjustment of accounts and closing out of his business with the loan office occupied him until the last day of May 1777.
License for his departure was granted by the Council of the State of Maryland, June 3, 1777. With his arrival in London, December 27, the record of his career is lost.
