ntered in securing qualified and reliable men. This led during the
interregnum to a law in March, 1654/55, calling for the dismissal of
unqualified surveyors and placing the power of appointment in the hands
of the county court. After the restoration of Charles II to the throne,
the appointment of surveyors returned to the system of commissions from
the surveyor-general.

The amount for surveyors' fees was designated by the legislature at
various times. Ten pounds of tobacco for every 100 acres was specified
in 1624; in 1642 and again in 1646 the fee limit was raised to twenty
pounds of tobacco for measuring 100 acres of land with an additional
allowance of twelve pounds of tobacco for each day that the task
required the surveyor to be away from his home. If his transportation
could be only by water, the person employing him was required to assume
the expense of travel both to and from the location of the survey. In
1661/62 the allowance for each day away from home was increased to
thirty pounds of tobacco; and by the same law the surveyor was
authorized the same limit of twenty pounds of tobacco for running off
100 acres if the total was greater than 500, otherwise he was to receive
a minimum of 100 pounds of tobacco. Efforts to obtain capable, honest,
and conscientious appointees continued to be a problem. The need for
better surveyors and the decline of the tobacco prices led the Assembly
to double the previous fees. In 1666 forty pounds of tobacco was
stipulated for surveying 100 acres if the total was for 1,000 acres. If
less than 1,000, the allowance was 400 pounds of tobacco.

Commissioned surveyors were not at liberty to refuse reasonable requests
for surveys to be made, except in cases involving sickness or some other
impediment recognized as legal. The law of 1666 provided that anyone
violating this requirement was subject to a fine of 4,000 pounds of
tobacco; for charging excessive fees, the fine was 200 pounds of tobacco
that could be recovered in the Virginia courts.

Gabriel Hawley, Robert Evelyn, Thomas Loving, Edmund Scarborough, and
Alexander Culpeper served as surveyor-general with the last named having
Philip Ludwell as his deputy. Upon the chartering of the College of
William and Mary surveyors were appointed by the institution, and the
appointees were required to contribute to the trustees of the college
one-sixth of the fees of the office. The trustees were permitted to
delegate the appointments.