William Kilty

Background

William Kilty was born in 1757 in London, England, the son of John Kilty and Ellen Ahearn. The names are suggestive of Celtic origins.

Education

Kilty was educated in the College of St. Omer in France and was brought to America by his parents shortly before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the family settling in Annapolis, Maryland. Here he studied medicine under Dr. Edward Johnson.

Career

In April 1778 Kilty was appointed surgeon's mate of the 4th Maryland Regiment which he joined at Wilmington, Delaware. In April 1780, upon the resignation of Michael Wallace, surgeon of the regiment, he was appointed to the vacancy. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Camden and after futile efforts to effect an exchange, he was paroled and compelled to await at Annapolis the end of the war. He appears at this time to have abandoned the profession of medicine for that of law and in 1798 he was authorized by an act of the legislature to compile the statutes of the state. The result was The Laws of Maryland (1799 - 1800) published in two volumes. In 1818 he collaborated with Thomas Harris and John N. Watkins in the issue of a four-volume continuation of the same work.

In 1800 he moved to Washington and in April of the following year President Adams appointed him chief justice of the circuit court of the District of Columbia. He occupied this position until January 25, 1806, when he resigned to accept an appointment by the governor of Maryland as chancellor of the state. He held this post until his death in Annapolis in 1821.

Supplemental to his earlier work he compiled A Report on All Such English Statutes as Existed at the Time of the First Emigration of the People of Maryland, and Which by Experience Have Been Found Applicable to their Local and Other Circumstances (1811). Not all of his writings were on legal matters, nor in so serious a vein. There exists a manuscript volume by Kilty entitled A Burlesque Translation of Homer's Iliad, with Notes. The Second Part. The title is the same as that of a work by Thomas Bridges, published in England in 1764. Kilty offered his poem as a sequel to the earlier production and thus explained his beginning with the thirteenth book. It is probable that the poem was not an original translation, but an adaptation from that of Pope or of Cowper. Without disclaiming a knowledge of Greek, he gives the impression that he had scant skill in the language.

Achievements

• Kilty was remembered mainly for his career in the law and his legal literary work. His most important work during his term as a Chancellor was his 1811 report on the British Statutes which received high commendation from the Court of Appeals. He was also one of the founders of the Society of the Cincinnati and was credited with the authorship of a satirical historic poem, "The Vision of Don Crocker", published in Baltimore in 1813.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A report of all such English statutes as existed at the time of the first emigration of the people of Maryland: and which by experience have been ... of such others as have since been made in...

    (Title: A report of all such English statutes as existed a...)

  • British Statutes in Force in Maryland According to the Report Thereof Made to the General Assembly by the Late Chancellor Kilty: Magna Charta-14 Eliz

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Index To The Laws Of Maryland: Prepared And Published By Authority

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • The Laws Of Maryland.

    ( Title: The Laws Of Maryland. Author: William Kilty Pu...)

Politics

Kilty was vitally interested in the welfare of his state and country. In the troubled times preceding the War of 1812 he was active in demanding redress from England and in calling upon the people to support the President in his policies of defense. He was a member of a resolution committee appointed at a meeting in Annapolis, February 4, 1809, for the purpose of expressing approval of the course of the President toward Great Britain and France.

Personality

Kilty was described as a judge whose opinions show industry and a close familiarity with English equity jurisprudence. An obituary described him as "an honest, upright and enlightened man, and highly esteemed by all that had had business to do with him, either in his public or private character. His death, we believe, has deprived Maryland of the only person that exactly knew what is the constitution of the state". He was of a quiet unassuming character, happy in his judicial and professional work.

Connections

Kilty married Elizabeth Middleton of Calvert County, Maryland. They had no children.

Father:

John Kilty

Mother:

Ellen Ahearn

Spouse:

Elizabeth Middleton

References

• The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 33: 17 February to 30 April 1801
• History of Maryland: From the Earliest Period to the Present Day