What Is the History of the Notary Public?
By John F. Heinz, Managing Director, Prismark Signature Services
Published: August 30, 2026
Quick Answer
The history of the Notary Public stretches back thousands of years. Ancient civilizations needed trusted individuals to record important transactions, preserve official records, and document significant events. Over centuries, these functions evolved through Roman, European, English, and American legal traditions.
The modern American Notary Public has a much narrower role than many historical and European notarial offices. In California today, a Notary Public is a public official commissioned by the Secretary of State who performs specific notarial acts and helps protect the integrity of important document transactions.
Although the laws and technology have changed dramatically, one fundamental purpose has endured: providing an impartial, trusted process when important documents are signed.
Keytakes
- The roots of the notarial profession extend back thousands of years.
- Ancient Egyptian scribes maintained important governmental and private records.
- Roman recordkeepers and document professionals helped shape later notarial traditions.
- Notaries became important to commerce and legal documentation throughout medieval Europe.
- Notaries accompanied European explorers to document important events and transactions.
- Colonial American Notaries played an important role in international trade and commerce.
- The American Notary Public eventually developed into a more limited public office than the civil-law notary found in many other countries.
- Today, California Notaries Public continue the centuries-old tradition of serving as impartial participants in important document transactions.
Ancient Beginnings
Long before there were Notaries Public as we know them today, societies needed reliable people to create and preserve important records.
Some of the earliest roots of the profession are associated with ancient Egypt, where highly trained scribes recorded official communications, tax records, proclamations, correspondence, and other important information.
These ancient scribes were not Notaries Public in the modern sense. But they demonstrate something that has remained important for thousands of years: governments, businesses, and individuals need reliable records of significant events and transactions.
The Roman Influence
The development of the notarial tradition became more recognizable during the Roman era.
Rome had several categories of scribes, recordkeepers, and document professionals. The Latin term notarius became associated with people who recorded information using shorthand notes known as notae. Other Roman professionals prepared contracts, wills, and important private documents.
These Roman roles were not identical to today’s American Notary Public, but Roman legal and documentary practices became an important influence on the later development of the notarial profession in Europe.
Notaries in Medieval Europe
As European commerce and legal systems developed during the Middle Ages, notaries became increasingly important in documenting agreements, property transactions, commercial matters, and other significant events.
In continental Europe, the profession became closely connected to civil-law traditions. Notaries could have extensive legal training and responsibilities far beyond those associated with a modern American Notary Public.
This historical development helps explain why the role of a notary remains substantially different in many European and Latin American countries today.
The Notary Public Comes to England
The English notarial tradition developed differently. Notaries appeared in England during the 13th and 14th centuries. Early English Notaries were frequently appointed under church authority, and many were members of the clergy.
As commerce expanded and the role evolved, laypeople in towns and trading centers increasingly performed notarial functions. England’s common-law system ultimately helped shape the more limited Notary Public office that later developed in the American colonies.
Notaries Cross the Atlantic
Notaries were present during some of the earliest European voyages to the Americas.
When Christopher Columbus sailed under the authority of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, notaries accompanied his voyages to create official records and account for discoveries and property. A notary named Rodrigo de Escobedo was present when Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492 and documented the event.
In an era centuries before photographs, electronic records, or instant communications, having an authorized person create a formal record of what occurred could be enormously important.
The Notary Public in Colonial America
Notaries became particularly important to commerce in Colonial America.
Merchants conducting business across the Atlantic often needed a reliable third party to document events involving ships, cargo, payments, and commercial transactions. A Notary’s written record could provide important evidence to people thousands of miles away who had no ability to personally observe what had happened.
Notaries were especially valuable in reporting damage or loss involving ships and cargo, a function associated with what became known as a marine protest.
An Interesting Presidential Moment
One of the most unusual moments in American notarial history occurred in 1923.
After President Warren G. Harding died, Vice President Calvin Coolidge was at his family’s home in Vermont. Coolidge’s father, John Calvin Coolidge Sr., was a Notary Public. In the early morning hours of August 3, his father administered the presidential oath of office to him in the family home.
It remains a remarkable intersection between the relatively ordinary American office of Notary Public and the presidency of the United States.
How the American Notary Became Different
The American Notary Public developed differently from the civil-law notarial profession found in many European and Latin American countries.
In many civil-law countries, notaries are highly trained legal professionals who may prepare legal documents, advise clients, and perform functions that Americans generally associate with attorneys.
In most of the United States, including California, a Notary Public has a much narrower role. A California Notary Public is not an attorney merely because the person holds a notary commission and may not provide legal advice unless separately authorized to practice law.
That distinction remains especially important today because the American Notary Public should not be confused with a Notario Público in many Latin American legal systems.
The California Notary Public Today
Today, the California Secretary of State describes a Notary Public as a public official appointed by the Secretary of State who provides important services to the legal, business, financial, and real estate communities.
The modern California Notary operates under detailed state laws governing identification, personal appearance, certificates, journals, seals, fees, and other aspects of the notarization process.
The job is therefore very different from that of an ancient Egyptian scribe or Roman document professional. But the underlying need is surprisingly familiar: people and institutions still need a reliable, impartial process when important documents and signatures matter.
From Ancient Records to Modern Signatures
Thousands of years ago, important transactions were recorded on papyrus, parchment, tablets, and handwritten manuscripts.
Today, a California Notary Public may be sitting at a kitchen table, law office, hospital room, escrow office, or business conference table while someone signs an important document.
The tools have changed. The legal authority has changed. The documents have changed. But the need for trust, identity, reliable records, and impartiality has endured.
You’re in Good Hands With Prismark
For your peace of mind, Prismark is a bonded California Notary Public, background screened, and carries $1 million in Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance. Prismark has also earned 200+ five-star Google reviews from clients we have served.
Your important documents are handled with professionalism, confidentiality, care, and clear communication throughout the process.
Professional. Reliable. Responsive.
How Prismark Can Help
Prismark Signature Services continues that long tradition by providing professional mobile notary services throughout Los Angeles and surrounding communities.
We assist with real estate and loan signings, trusts and estate planning documents, Powers of Attorney, hospital and healthcare notarizations, business and financial documents, and general mobile notary needs.
When time matters, expedited same-day mobile notary service may be available depending on location and scheduling. Prismark also provides expedited apostille service for properly prepared qualifying California documents that will be used internationally.
Contact Prismark Signature Services at (213) 563-0758 for more information or to schedule an appointment.
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Professional Notice
The information provided in the Prismark Library is for general educational purposes only. Prismark Signature Services is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
Historical notarial roles varied significantly by country, legal system, and time period. References to ancient or historical scribes, notaries, and other document professionals are provided as historical context and should not be understood to mean that those individuals possessed the same authority or performed the same duties as a modern California Notary Public.
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