Author: Kilty, William
Biography:
Kilty, William (1757-1821: WBIS)
Born in London to Ellen (Ahearn) Kilty and Captain John Kilty, a merchant seaman, he was educated at the College of St. Omer in France. About 1774, the family emigrated to Maryland. They settled in Annapolis, where he was apprenticed to a doctor. He served as a surgeon in Maryland's Fourth Regiment during the Revolutionary War, but afterwards turned from medicine to the law. He established a respected practice in Annapolis and undertook some work also for the state legislature. In 1790 he married Elizabeth Middleton (d 1807); there were no children. His most important work was The Laws of Maryland (2 vols 1799-1800). In 1801 he became a federal judge; in 1806, Chancellor of Maryland, which position he held until his death. Besides the Vision of Don Crocker (1813) attributed to him, he composed a "Burlesque Translation of Homer's Iliad, with Notes, the Second Part"--beginning with Book 13--which remains in ms and is held in the Harris Collection at Brown University. (ANBO 17 July 2019)