Pages 614-638 
|  Pages 671-679
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| Pages 614-638
| Pages 671-679
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| ANNO REGNI GEORGII III, Regis Magnæ Britanniæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ, tertio. | |||
|
Francis Fauquier, Esq. Governour | ||
 CHAP. I. | |||
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| I. WHEREAS by an act of general-assembly, passed in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of his late majesty, of happy and glorious memory, entitled, | preamble. |
| An act for the encouragement and protection of the settlers upon the waters of the Missippi, the treasurer of this colony was empowered to borrow a sum of money, not exceeding ten thousand pounds, for the purposes mentioned in the said act; and an additional duty of five per centum on the amount of the sale of all slaves imported, and a tax on wheel carriages, ordinary licenses, and original process, was laid and imposed, to continue for three years, which, and the revenue arising from former duties on liquors and slaves, was declared to be and remain as a security for the payment of the money so to be borrowed, with an interest of six per centum per annum, until the same was paid; and by several subsequent acts the said additional duty and taxes were continued until the fourteenth day of February, one thousand seen hundred and sixty five. | |
| II. And whereas, by another act, passed in the thirty-fourth year of the reign of his said late majesty, entitled, An act for appointing persons to receive the money granted, or to be granted, by the parliament of Great Britain to his majesty for the use of this colony, the said treasurer was empowered and required, out of the money that should come to his hands from bills of exchange drawn as thereby directed, to pay off and discharge all publick debts bearing interest, pursuant to which direction the said ten thousand pound so borrowed, and all interest due thereon, hath been fully paid and discharged, since which the duties and taxes imposed by the first-mentioned act have been applied towards the sinking the treasury-notes, although no law hath hitherto directed such application; and as the said taxes have not been found inconvenient, the continuing them to the period at which the other publick taxes are to cease, and applying them towards securing the final redemption of the treasury-notes, to supply any possible deficiency in such other taxes, may tend to preserve the credit of our paper money. | |
| III. Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governour, Council and Burgesses, of this present General-Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that so much of the said act, entitled, an act for the encouragement and protection of the settlers upon the waters of the Mississippi, and of the subsequent acts for continuing and amending the same, as |
| relates to the imposing, collecting, and accounting for the said additional duty on slaves and the taxes on wheel-carriages, ordinary licenses, and original process, shall continue and be in force from and after the said fourteenth day of February, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, for and during the space of five years and no longer. | |
| IV. Provided always, That the owners of such wheel-carriages shall be obliged, during that term, to give in a list of the same annually to the justice appointed to take the list of tithables, in like manner, and under the same penalty, as is directed in and by an act passed at the last session of this assembly, entitled, an act for the better and more regular collecting the publick taxes. | Owners of wheel carriages to give in a list annually. |
| V. And be it further enacted, That the money to be raised by the duties and taxes imposed by this and the first recited act shall stand, be, and remain, as an additional security for the redemption of the several treasury-notes now in circulation; and John Robinson, Esquire, treasurer of this colony, or the treasurer for the time being, appointed by or pursuant to act of assembly, is hereby required to apply all such money as shall come to his hands for the said duties and taxes for and towards the redemption of the said treasury-notes, and to no other use whatsoever, any thing in the said former acts to the contrary notwithstanding. | Duties and taxes how to be applied. |
| VI. And whereas an opinion has prevailed, from a misconstruction of the said act, for the better and more regular collecting the publick taxes, that the said tax on wheel-carriages is not to be collected for the present year, as the time appointed for taking the lists of tithables is too late to admit of such collection: Be it therefore further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the said tax upon wheel-carriages, for this present year, shall be collected, levied, and accounted for, according to the directions and regulations in the said act, for the encouragement and protection of the settlers upon the waters of the Mississippi, any thing in the other act to the contrary, or seeming to the contrary, notwithstanding. | Taxes on wheel-carriages to be collected for the present year. |
| VII. And whereas, by an act passed in the twenty-second year of the reign of his said late majesty, entitled, an act declaring the law concerning executions, and for relief of insolvent debtors, it is among other things, enacted that where any execution is served on | Sheriffs exempted the privilege of replevying. |
| the debtor's estate, and such debtor shall within five, days, or at the time of sale, tender sufficient sureties approved of by the creditor, to be bound with him to pay the debt and costs, with lawful interest for the same, to such creditor, within three months, the sheriff or officer shall restore the estate so taken; and it is not reasonable to extend the said indulgence to sheriffs, whose estates are taken in execution for money by them received for his majesty's quitrents, or the publick taxes: Be it therefore further enacted, that the said indulgence shall not be construed to extend to any sheriff, or his securities, whose estates shall be taken in execution upon a judgment obtained for his majesty's quitrents, or the publick taxes, nor to any under-sheriff, or his securities, whose estates shall in like manner be taken in execution upon a judgment for such quitrents and taxes collected by such under-sheriff; but that the officer taking such estate in execution shall proceed immediately to sale thereof, not withstanding such security shall be tendered, in the same manner as if the before-recited clause in the said act had never ben made: and, for the better direction of such officer, the clerk issuing such execution shall endorse thereon that no security is to be taken. | The clerk to endorse on executions that no security is to be
taken. |
| VIII. And whereas it is represented to this assembly that the bonds entered into by some of the sheriffs in this colony have been lost, or mislaid in the clerk's office, for want of which judgments cannot be obtained against them, or their security, for the money they are indebted for the said quitrents and taxes: for remedy wherein, be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that notwithstanding such bonds shall be so lost, or mislaid, if it shall appear upon the records of the court before whom such bonds were respectively entered into that the same were executed by such sheriff and securities, it shall be lawful for the general-court, or county-court, upon the motion of the receiver-general, or treasurer, and due notice given, to enter judgment against such sheriff and securities, for the quitrents or taxes for which such sheriff is accountable, in the same manner as if such bond was produced. | Remedy how the courts are to proceed when sheriffs, bonds are lost. |
| CHAP. II. | ||
| ||
| WHEREAS an act, passed at the last session of this general-assembly, entitled, an act for the relief of insolvent debtors, for the effectual discovery and more equal distribution of their estates, has been though injurious to the credit of this colony, and may be of evil consequence to the trade thereof, if the same was allowed to commence and be in force: Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governour, Council and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the said recited act, and every clause thereof, be, and the same is hereby repealed, and made void, to all intents and purposes whatsoever. | Act of last session, for relief of insolvent debtors repealed. | |
| CHAP. III. An Act for establishing a better method of appointing Sheriffs. | ||
| I. WHEREAS by an act of assembly, passed in the thirty-second year of the reign of his late majesty king George the second, entitled, an at prescribing the method of appointing sheriffs, and for limiting the time of their continuance in office, and directing their duty therein, it is, among other things, enacted that the governour or commander in chief may, if he think fit, continue any sheriff in his office two years next succeeding each other, and such person may accept and execute the same two years successively, and no longer. | [22d Geo II] |
| II. And whereas it is found inconvenient to remove sheriffs from their office before they have completed the collection of his majesty's quitrents and the publick taxes of the year, and on that account the general appointment of sheriffs in the month of October will be of publick advantage, but that regulation must be interrupted where the death or misconduct of any sheriff makes the commissionating of another at a different time necessary, which will fix all future appointments in such county to the same time, as under the aforesaid act the governour is restrained from continuing the sheriff longer than two years. | Sheriffs not to be removed before the collection of the taxes of the year shall be completed. |
| III. For remedy wherein, Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governour Council and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that the governour or commander in chief may, if he thinks fit, continue the present sheriffs in office until the twenty-fifth day of October next after their two years continuance therein shall expire; & that when by the death, or removal from office, of any sheriff, another shall be appointed at any other time than in the month of October, the governour or commander in chief may, if he thinks fit, continue such successour in office until the twenty-fifth day of October next after his two years continuance therein shall expire, any thing in the said recited act, or any other act, to the contrary notwithstanding. | Governour may continue sheriffs. |
| CHAP. IV. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS the act of assembly made in the nineteenth year of the reign of his late majesty king George the second, entitled, an act for the better regulating and collecting certain officers fees, and for other purposes therein-mentioned, which hath been continued by several acts, and amended by one other act made in the first year of his present majesty's reign, will expire on the twelfth day of April next, and it being necessary that the same should be further continued: | Act for regulating and collecting officers fees further continued. | |
| II. Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governour, Council and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the said recited acts of assembly, made in the nineteenth year of his said late majesty's reign, and in the first year of the reign of his present majesty, and every clause and article thereof, shall continue and be in force from and after the said twelfth day of April next, for and during the term of two years, and no longer. | ||
| III. Provided always, and be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the passing of this act, all and every surveyor of lands shall be resident in the county whereof he is surveyor during the time he shall continue in office, under the penalty of forfeiting ten pounds current money for every month he shall reside out of the same; one moiety of which shall be to the king, his heirs and successours, for the better support of this government, and the contingent charges thereof; and the other moiety to the informer. | Surveyor of lands to be resident in the county whereof he is surveyor. |
| CHAP. V. An Act to reduce the duty on Northern Rum. | ||
| I. WHEREAS by an act of assembly, made in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of his late majesty king George the second, entitled, an act for laying an additional duty on rum, and other distilled spirits, not being the produce of his majesty's sugar islands, an additional duty of four pence per gallon was laid on all liquors imported into this colony by land or water from any port or place whatsoever, except from Great-Breadwinner some of his majesty's sugar colonies, which was continued by two other acts, made in the thirtieth and thirty-second years of his said late majesty's reign, until the first day of August, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six. | Duty on northern rum reduced. | |
| II. And whereas it will be advantageous, and for the benefit of the trade of this colony, to take off the said additional duty: Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governour, Council and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this act the said additional duty be discontinued, any thing in the said recited acts to the contrary notwithstanding. | ||
| CHAP. VI. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS by an act of assembly, made in the thirty-second year of the reign of his late majesty king George the second, entitled, an act appointing an agent, it is, among other things, enacted and declared that the honourable William Nelson, Thomas | Committee to correspond with agent enlarged. |
| Nelson, Philip Grymes and Peter Randolph, esquires, John Robinson, Peyton Randolph, Charles Carter, Richard Bland, Landon Carter, Benjamin Waller, George Wythe and Robert Carter Nicholas, esquires, shall be a committee of correspondence to transmit such matters and things to the said agent as shall be committed to their charge by the general-assembly, and to receive from him information and intelligence of his proceedings; as well in such cases as shall be to him instructed by the said committee, or the major part of them, as in every other matter and thing that shall come to his knowledge that may either affect or be for the interest of this colony. | |
| II. And whereas, by reason of the death of one of the said committee, and of the remote distance of several others of them, it is often difficult and inconvenient for the said committee to meet for the purposes in the said act mentioned: Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governour, Council and Burgesses, of this present General-Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this act the honourable John Blair and Robert Carter, esquires, Lewis Burwell and Dudley Digges, esquires, be added to, and are hereby declared to be part of, the said committee of correspondence; and that the said John Blair, Robert Carter, Lewis Burwell and Dudley Digges, shall have, and be vested with, the same power and authority, and be liable for any misdemeanor to the censure of the general-assembly, in the same manner as the said committee are by the said recited act of assembly. |
| CHAP. VII. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS great frauds are frequently committed by the under sheriffs, receiving the money and tobacco in levying of executions, and converting the same to their own use, instead of paying it to the creditor; to the great detriment of the just creditor, and often total ruin of the sheriff who employed them: To prevent the like inconveniences for the future, Be it enacted by the Lieutenant Governour, Council and Burgesses, of this present General-Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this act if any under-sheriff employed by the sheriff of any county to act as his deputy heretofore hath, or hereafter shall make return upon any writ of fieri facias, or venditioni exponas, that he hath levied the debt, damages and costs, as in such writ is required, or any part thereof; and shall not immediately pay the same to the party to whom the same is payable, or to his attorney or agent, or to such sheriff, or shall return on any writ of capias ad satisfaciendum, or attachment, for not performing a decree in chancery for payment of any sum of money or tobacco that he hath taken the body or bodies of the defendant or defendants, and hath the same ready to satisfy the money and tobacco in such writ mentioned, and shall actually have received such money and tobacco of the defendant or defendants, or have suffered him, her or them, to escape, with the consent of such under sheriffs, and shall not immediately pay such money and tobacco to the party to whom the same is payable, or his attorney or agent, or to the sheriff under whom he acts, that then, or in either of the said cases, it shall and may be lawful for such sheriff, or the creditor at whose suit such writ of facias facias, venditioni exponas, capias ad satisfaciendum, or attachment, shall issue upon a motion to be made to the next succeeding general-court, or court of the county | Summary remedy given high sheriffs against their deputies and securities. |
| wherein such under-sheriff acts, to demand judgment against such under-sheriff, and his securities, for the money and tobacco mentioned in such writ of execution or attachment, or so much thereof as shall be returned levied on such writ of execution or attachment as aforesaid; and such court is hereby authorized and required to give judgment accordingly, and to award execution thereupon. | |
| II. Provided always, such under sheriff, and his securities, have ten days previous notice of such motion. | |
| III. And to prevent disputes between the sheriffs, and his several deputies, which of them may have acted in serving of executions, or other process, Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that when any under sheriff hath served any writ of execution, attachment, or other process whatsoever, he shall endorse on the back of such writ the day of the month he or they shall have served the same, and subscribe his name, as well as that of his principal, to the return of such writ or other process; and every under-sheriff failing herein shall be liable to the same penalty as by law is inflicted on the sheriff for a false return, and to be recovered and appropriated in the same manner. | Deputy sheriff to subscribe his name & that of his principal, on serving process. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That where the sheriff of any county heretofore hath, or hereafter shall appoint any person to be his under-sheriff, to collect the quit-rents due to his majesty within his county, and such under-sheriff shall neglect or refuse to account for and pay such quitrents by him collected to the sheriff under whom he acts, or to his majesty's receiver general, at the time by law appointed for paying of the same, it shall and may be lawful for the general-court, or court of the county whereof he is sheriff, upon a motion to them made by such sheriff or receiver-general, to give judgment against such under-sheriff, and his security, for all the money wherewith he shall be chargeable, and thereupon to award execution. | |
| V. Provided, That such under-sheriff and securities have ten days previous notice of such motion. |
| CHAP. VIII. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS it is represented to this present general-assembly that the act made in the thirty-second year of the reign of his late majesty king George the second, entitled, an act for enlarging the towns of Fredericksburg and Winchester, the City of Williamsburg, and the town of Dumfries, for so much thereof as relates to the town of Fredericksburg hath been found defective in many instances, and not to answer the purposes for which it was intended, and it is therefore necessary that the same should be amended: Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governour, Council and Burgesses, of this present General-Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the directors and trustees of the said town of Fredericksburg shall, within six months after the passing of this at, cause the streets of the said town to be surveyed and laid off according to the plan thereof heretofore made, and shall cause a stone to be erected at the corner of every street, to establish and ascertain the bounds of the said streets, by and with the approbation and consent of the proprietors of the lots adjoining such streets. | Trustees of Fredericksburg to cause streets to be surveyed, & to erect a
stone at each corner. Their power to alter streets. | |
| II. And whereas the street running between the lots No. 9, 10 and 17, laid off by the executors of Henry Willis, gentleman, deceased, great part of which was afterwards sold by the said executors, and the remaining part of the said street is of no benefit or advantage to the publick, or the inhabitants of the said town, upon which remaining part Benjamin Grymes, gentleman, hath erected and built part of his dwelling-house: Be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful for the said directors and trustess to sell and convey to the said Benjamin | Trustees authorised to convey part of a street of Benjamin Grymes, on which he had erected a house. |
| Grymes the remaining part of the said street laid off by the said executors, upon his paying to the said directors and trustees at the rate of ten shillings for every foot in front between the said dwellinghouse and the said lot No. 17; and the money arising thereby shall by the said trustees, in the first place, be laid out in mending and keeping in repair the other streets laid out by the said executors, and the residue, if any, towards repairing any other of the streets in the said town. | |
| III. And whereas several of the streets in the said town are in such bad order and condition that they cannot be repaired without stone and timber, and there is no fund established for defraying the expense thereof: Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for the said trustees and directors to assess on the owners and proprietors of the lots, and other inhabitants of the said town, so much money as will be sufficient for that purpose, so that such assessment do not exceed two shillings per poll in each year, for the term of two years; and, upon non-payment thereof, it shall and may be lawful to and for the said trustees and directors to levy the same, or cause the same to be levied and collected, by such person or persons as they shall appoint for that purpose, by distress and sale of the delinquent's goods and chattels, wherein the same proceedings shall be had and used as in case of distress and sale for payment of publick taxes: and moreover it shall and may be lawful to and for the said trustees and directors, from time to time, to nominate and appoint some fit person to oversee the streets of the said town, who shall have the same power to order the inhabitants of the said town to send their hands to work thereon, and the said overseer and inhabitants shall be subject and liable to the same fines and penalties for neglecting or refusing to do their duty therein, as are prescribed, directed & appointed, by the several acts of Assembly of this colony for keeping the highways and roads in repair; and the inhabitants of the said town shall be hereafter exempt from attending to repair the other highways and roads in the country. | Provision for repairing streets. |
| IV. And whereas the several acts of assembly for preventing wooden chimnies being built in the said town, and for restraining the inhabitants from suffering their hogs and goats to run at large within the limits thereof, | Penalty for building wooden chimnies and suffering |
| of, have hitherto proved ineffectual: Be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that for every month any such wooden chimney shall remain after the first day of June, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four to the proprietor, or inhabitant of the house to which the same shall belong, shall forfeit and pay the sum of five shillings; and moreover it shall and may be lawful for the said trustees and directors to cause such chimney to be pulled down, and for every hog or goat found running at large within the limits of the said town the owner thereof, being an inhabitant, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one shilling for every month the same shall be so found running at large; which several fines and forfeitures shall and may be levied and assessed by the said trustees and directors in the same manner as the other assessments herein before-mentioned, and shall be by them laid out and disposed of for and towards keeping the streets of the said town in repair: and in case the said trustees and directors shall fail to inflict the penalties imposed by this act on the several persons offending herein, it shall be lawful for the grand juries of the said county of Spotsylvania to present the said offenders; and the court of the said county, upon conviction, shall cause the fines aforesaid to be levied on such offenders for the purposes aforesaid. | hogs to run at large enforced. |
| V. And whereas the act for allowing fairs to be held in the said town of Fredericksburg, which proved very advantageous to the trade and commerce of the said town, is expired: Be it therefore further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the said act, made in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of his late majesty, entitled, an act for continuing the act, entitled, an act for reviving and amending the acts for allowing fairs to be kept in the towns of Fredericksburg and Richmond, as to so much thereof as relates to the said town of Fredericksburg, shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be revived, and shall be and remain in force from and after the passing of this act for and during the term of seven years, and from thence to the end to the next session of assembly. | Act for allowing fairs in Fredericksburg, revived. |
| VI. And whereas, by an act of assembly, made in the twenty fifth year of the reign of his said late majesty king George the second, a town was established in the county of Norfolk, by the name of Portsmouth, which daily increases; and whereas Thomas Veal, | Certain lots Veal, added to town of Portsmouth. |
| gentleman, proprietor of the land adjoining, hath made humble request to this present general-assembly that a certain quantity of the said adjacent lands may be added to and made part of the said town of Portsmouth, and that the purchaser of the lots laid off, or to be laid off, on the said lands, may enjoy the same privileges and advantages as the freeholders and inhabitants of the said town do at present enjoy: Be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that so much of the said adjacent lands as are contained within the bounds hereafter described, including the said town of Portsmouth, shall be added to and made part of the said town of Portsmouth, to wit: beginning at a stake, by the mouth of a small creek, opposite to where Daniel Veal now lives, running thence up the said creek, and crossing a small creek south fifty-nine degrees west; fifty-six poles thence south; forty-six degrees west; thirty-seven poles to the south corner of the said Veal's land, thence south, thirty degrees west, one hundred and sixty poles to the head of Rice Branch; thence down the said Rice Branch south, twenty-two degrees east, forty-four poles to the head of a cove issuing out of the Crab Creek, according to the meanders thereof, to the southward branch of Elizabeth River, thence bounding on the said branch, and the said rive, to the beginning. | |
| VII. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the purchasers of lands within the bounds aforesaid, hereby added to and made part to the said town of Portsmouth, as soon as the same shall be laid off into lots, and built on as the directors and trustees appointed by this act shall direct, shall be entitled to, and have and enjoy, all the rights privileges and immunities, granted to, and enjoyed by, the freeholders and other inhabitants of the said town. | |
| VIII. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That Andrew Sprowle, George Veal, Thomas Veal, Charles Steuart, Humphry Roberts, Francis Miller, James Rae, David Purcell and Amos Etheridge, gentlemen, shall be, and they are hereby nominated, constituted and appointed, directors and trustees of the said town; and they, or any five of them, shall and may, and they are hereby authorized and empowered, to survey and lay off the said adjacent | Trustees of Portsmouth. |
| lands into lots and streets, and to make from time to time such orders, rules and directions, for the regular and orderly placing and building the houses in the said town as to them shall seem expedient: and that in case of the death, removal out of the country, or other legal disability, of any one or more of the directors and trustees before-named, it shall and may be lawful for the surviving or remaining trustees to elect and choose so many other persons in the room of those so dead or disabled as shall make up the number of nine; which trustees so chosen shall, to all intents and purposes, be vested with the same power as any other in this act particularly nominated and appointed. | ||
| CHAP. IX. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS the Mayor, Alderman, Common-Council, and other inhabitants, of the Borough of Norfolk, have represented to this present general-assembly that robberies are frequently committed in the night-time within the said borough; for preventing which they are desirous a watch may be established, and lamps erected, within the same, but have no authority to levy upon the inhabitants a tax to answer the expense thereof: | Common hall of Norfolk authorised to assess a tax, for keeping a night watch. | |
| II. Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant Governour, Council & Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this act the Mayor Recorder, Aldermen and Common-Council, of the said borough, shall have full power and authority to levy on the freeholders and house-keepers |
| thereof, from time to time, a tax sufficient to defray the expense of a watch for the guard of the said borough, and for erecting lamps within the limits of the same, at such places as shall be appointed by the common-hall of the said borough. | |
| III. And whereas evil disposed persons may be induced to break, or otherwise destroy such lamps: be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that any person who shall willfully break or destroy any such lamp, being thereof lawfully convicted, by the oath of one or more witness or witnesses, shall, if a free person, forfeit and pay the common hall of the said borough the sum of fifty shillings current money for every such lamp so broke or destroy; or if a slave, being thereof lawfully convicted as aforesaid, shall receive on his or her bare back thirty-nine lashes; which said penalty and punishment any justice of the said borough shall, and he is hereby required to assess and inflict: and in case such free person shall refuse to pay down the said sum of fifty shillings, or give security to pay the same within one month after conviction, the person so failing or refusing shall receive ten lashes on his or her bare back by order of such justice. | |
| IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That all fines, levied and received by virtue of this act, shall be appropriated to the support of the said watch and lamps. | |
| V. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the persons employed as watchmen within the said borough shall be exempted from any duty as militia in the said borough, during the time they shall serve as watchmen. |
| CHAP. X. An Act for altering the Court-days of the Counties of Stafford and Chesterfield. | |
| I. WHEREAS the court-days of the counties of Stafford and Chesterfield, as the same now stand are found to be very inconvenient, as well to the inhabitants of the said counties as other persons whose business requires their attendance there: | Court days of Stafford and Chesterfield altered. |
| II. Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governour, Council & Burgesses, of this present General-Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the first day of August next, the court for the said county of Stafford shall be constantly held on the second Monday in every month, and the court for the county of Chesterfield shall beheld on the third Thursday in every month; any law, usage or custom, to the contrary thereof, in any wise, notwitstanding. | |
| CHAP. XI. An Act for altering the Court-day of the County of Gloucester. | |
| I. WHEREAS the court-day of the county of Gloucester, as the same now stands, is found to be very inconvenient, as well to the inhabitants of the said county as to other persons whose business requires their attendance there: | Court day of Gloucester altered. |
| II. Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governour, Council and Burgesses, of this present General-Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that from and after the last day of September next the court for the said county of Gloucester shall be constantly held on the first Friday in every month; any law, usage or Custom, to the contrary thereof, in any wise, notwithstanding. |
| CHAP. XII. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS, pursuant to an act of assembly in the twenty-second year of the reign of his late majesty, of happy and glorious memory, entitled, an act to empower the trustees of Leeds-town to make a causey through the marsh opposite thereto, and appointing a publick ferry, the said trustees have agreed with John Richards, gentleman, to make a causey and bridge through the marsh opposite to the said town, upon the terms, among other things, of his being entitled to the privileges of keeping a ferry across Rappahannock river, to and from the said town, and receiving the profits thereof so long as he shall keep the said causey and bridge in repair, and that he should have for a landing for such ferry fifty feet square of ground, out of church lot in the said town; which agreement is reasonable, as the said causey will shorten the passage at such ferry, and be a great convenience to travellers: | John Richards authorised to keep a ferry at Leeds, in King George | |
| II. Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governour, Council and Burgesses, of this present General-Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That it shall and may be lawful to and for the said John Richards, and his heirs or assigns, as soon as he or they shall have made and finished the causey aforesaid through the said marsh to the high land in the county of Essex, and erected necessary bridges over the guts and creeks, but not before, to keep a publick ferry for the passage of travellers to and from the said causey, and to demand and receive sixpence for a man and sixpence for a horse; and for the transportation of wheel-carriages, tobacco, cattle and other beasts, may demand and take the rates following, that is to say: for every coach, chariot, or waggon, and the drive thereof, the same as for six horses; for every cart, or four-wheel chaise, and the driver of such chaise, as for four horses; for every two-wheel chair, as for two horses; for every hogshead of tobacco, as for one horse; for every head of neat cattle, as for one horse; for every sheep, goat or lamb, one fifth of the ferriage of one horse; for every hog, one |
| fourth part of the ferriage of one horse; and no more. And that no person or persons presume to set over or transport any passenger or beast from the said causey to the county of King-George but the said John Richards, his heirs and assigns; nor shall the court of the county of Essex have power to appoint any ferry at or from the said causey, so long as the said John Richards, his heirs or assigns; keep up and support the same, and the bridges aforesaid, at his or their own proper costs. | ||
| III. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the county-court of King-George shall have the same power and authority of ordering and directing what boat or boats, and the number of hands that shall be kept at such ferry, and the said John Richards, his heirs or assigns, shall have and enjoy the same privileges, and be subject to all the regulations, fines and penalties, that are given, made, laid and inflicted, on ferry keepers by an act of assembly made in the twenty-second year of his late majesty's reign, entitled; an act for the settlement and regulation of ferries, and for despatch of publick expresses. | ||
| CHAP. XIII. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS by one act of assembly made in the third and fourth years of the reign of his late majesty king George the second, entitled, An act for the better regulating the payment of the Burgesses wages, it is, amongst other things, enacted that when any session of assembly should be thereafter held, and upon examination of the treasurer's accounts it should appear that there are monies sufficient in his hands to discharge all the money debts, together with the Burgesses wages, and the salaries and allowances to the respective officers of the general assembly, saving | Burgesses wages payable in money. |
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| WHEREAS it is determined that a Fort be immediately built on the River Ohio, at the Fork of Monongahela, to oppose any further encouragements, or hostile attempts of the French and Indians in their interest, and for the security and protection of his majesty's subjects in his colony; and as it is absolutely | Governor Dinwiddie's proclamation of 1754, offering a bounty in lands, on the Ohio. | |||
| necessary that a sufficient force should be raised to erect and support the same; for an encouragement to all who shall voluntarily enter into the said service, I do hereby notify and promise, by and with the advice and consent of his majestys council of this colony, that over and above their pay, two hundred thousand acres, of his majesty the king of Great Britan's lands, on the east side of the river Ohio, within this dominion, (one hundred thousand acres whereof to be contiguous to the said fort, and the other hundred thousand acres to be on, or near the river Ohio) shall be laid off and granted to such persons, who by their voluntary engagement and good behaviour in the said service, shall deserve the same. And I further promise, that the said lands shall be divided amongst them, immediately after the performance of the said service in a proportion due to their respective merit, as shall be represented to me by their officers, and held and enjoyed by them without paying any rights and also free from the payment of quit rents, for the term of fifteen years, and I do appoint this proclimation to be read and published, at the court houses, churches and chapels in each county within this colony, and that the sheriffs take care the same be done accordingly. | |
| Given at the Council Chamber in Williamsburgh, on the 19th day of February in the XXVIIth year of his Majestys Reign, Annoque Domini 1754. | |
| ROBERT DINWIDDIE. | |
| GOD SAVE THE KING. | |
| [From a book in the office of the General Court, labelled "Proclamation Book, 1748" pa. 135.} |
PROCLAMATION OF 1763. 
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| GEORGE R. | |
| WHEREAS, we have taken into our royal consideration the extensive and valuable acquisitions in America, secured to our crown by the late definitive treaty of peace, concluded at Paris the 10th day of February last, and being desirous that all our loving subjects, as well of our kingdoms as of our colonies in America, may avail themselves, with all convenient speed, of the great benefits and advantages which must accrue therefrom to their commerce, manufactures, and navigation; we have thought fit, with the advice of our privy council; to issue this our royal proclamation, hereby to publish and declare to all our loving subjects, that we have, with the advice of our said privy council, granted our letters patent, under our great seal of Great Britain, to erect within the countries and islands ceded and confirmed to us by the said treaty; four distinct and separate governments, styled and called by the names of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida and Grenada, and limited and bounded as follows, viz. | Proclamation of 1763. |
| First.−−The government of Quebec, bounded on the Labrador coast by the river St. John, and from thence by a line drawn from the head of that river, through the lake St. John, to the south end of the lake Nipissim; from whence the said line crossing the river St. Lawrence, and the lake Champlain, in forty-five degrees of north latitude, passes along the high lands which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the said river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the sea; and also along the north coast of the baye de Chaleurs and the coast of the gulf of St. Lawrence, to cape Rosieres; and from thence, crossing the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, by the west end of the island of Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid river St. John. | |
| Secondly.−−The government of East Florida, bounded to the westward by the gulf of Mexico, and Apalachicola river; to the northward by a line drawn |
| from that part of the said river where the Chatahouchee and Flint rivers meet, to the source of St. Mary's river, and by the course of the said river to the Atlantic ocean; and to the eastward and southward by the Atlantic ocean, and the gulf of Florida, including all islands within six leagues of the sea coast. | |
| Thirdly.−−The government of West Florida, bounded to the southward by the gulf of Mexico, including all islands within six leagues of the coast, from the river Apalachicola to lake Pontchartrain; to the westward, by the said lake, the lake Mauripas, and the river Mississippi; to the northward, by a line drawn due east from that part of the river Mississippi which lies in thirty one degrees north latitude, to the river Apalachicola or Chatahouchee; and to the eastward, by the said river. | |
| Fourthly.−−The government of Grenada comprehending the island of that name, together with the Grenadines, and the islands of Dominica, St. Vincent, and Tobago. | |
| And, to the end that the open and free fishery of our subjects may be extended to, and carried on upon, the coast of Labrador, and the adjacent islands, we have thought fit, with the advice of our said privy council, to put all that coast, from the river St. Johns to the Hudson's straits, together with the islands of Anticosti and Madelaine, and all other smaller islands, lying upon the said coast, under the care and inspection of our governor of Newfoundland. | |
| We have also, with the advice of our privy council, thought fit, to annex the islands of St. John's and Cape Breton, or Isle Royale, with the lesser islands adjacent thereto, to our government of Nova Scotia. | |
| We have also, with the advice of our privy council aforesaid, annexed to our province of Georgia all the lands lying between the rivers Alatamaha and St. Mary's. | |
| And whereas it will greatly contribute to the speedy settling our said new governments that our loving subjects should be informed of our paternal care for the security of the liberties and properties of those who are and shall become inhabitants thereof we have thought fit to publish and declare, by this our proclamation, that we have in the letters patent under our |
| great seal of Great Britain by which the said governments are constituted, given express power and direction to our governors of our said colonies, respectively, that so soon as the state and circumstances of the said colonies will admit thereof, they shall, with the advice and consent of the members of our council, summon and call general assemblies within the said governments, respectively, in such manner and form as is used and directed in those colonies and provinces in America which are under our immediate government; and we have also given power to the said governors, with the consent of our said council, and the representatives of the people, so to be summoned as aforesaid, to make, constitute and ordain laws, statutes, and ordinances, for the public peace, welfare and good government of our said colonies, and of the people and inhabitants thereof, as near as may be agreeable to the laws of England, and under such regulations and restrictions as are used in other colonies: and in the mean time, until such assemblies can be called as aforesaid, all persons inhabiting in, or resorting to, our said colonies, may confide in our royal protection for the enjoyment of the benefit of the laws of our realm of England; for which purpose we have given power, under our great seal, to the governors of our said colonies respectively, to erect and constitute, with the advice of our said councils respectively, courts of judicature and public justice within our said colonies, for the hearing and determining all causes, as well criminal as civil, according to law and equity, and as near as may be agreeable to the laws of England: with liberty to all persons who may think themselves aggrieved by the sentences of such courts in all civil cases, to appeal under the usual limitations and restrictions, to us in our privy council. | |
| We have also thought fit with the advice of privy council as aforesaid, to give unto the governors and councils of our said three new colonies upon the continent, full power and authority to settle and agree with the inhabitants of our said new colonies, or with any other persons who shall resort thereto, for such lands, tenements and hereditaments, as now or hereafter shall be in our power to dispose of, and them to grant to any such person or persons, upon such terms, and under such moderate quitrents, services, and acknowledgments, as have been appointed and settled in |
| our other colonies, and under such other conditions as shall appear to us to be necessary and expedient for the advantage of the grantees, and the improvement and settlement of our said colonies. | |
| And whereas we are desirous, upon all occasions, to testify our royal sense and approbation of the conduct and bravery of the officers and soldiers of our armies, and to reward the same, we do hereby command and empower our governors of the said three new colonies, and all other our governors of our said provinces on the continent of North America, to grant without fee or reward, to such reduced officers as have served in North America during the late war, and to such private soldiers as have been, or shall be disbanded in America; and are actually residing there, and shall personally apply for the same, the following quantities of lands, subject at the expiration of ten years, to the same quitrents as other lands are subject to in the province within which they are granted, as also subject to the same conditions of cultivation and improvement, viz. | Land bounties to officers and soldiers. Quantity to each. |
| To every person having the rank of a field officer, five thousand acres; to every captain, three thousand acres; to every subaltern or staff officer, two thousand acres; to every non-commissioned officer, two hundred acres; to every private man fifty acres. | To officers of the navy. |
| We do likewise authorize and require the governors and commanders in chief of all our said colonies upon the continent of North America, to grant the like quantities of land, and upon the same conditions, to such reduced officers of our navy, of like rank as served on board our ships of war in North America at the times of the reduction of Louisbourg and Quebec in the late war, and who shall personally apply to our respective governors for such grants. | |
| And whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our interest, and the security of our colonies, that the several nations or tribes of Indians with whom we are connected, and who live under our protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the possession of such parts of our dominions and territories as, not having been ceded to, or purchased by us, are reserved to them, or any of them, as their hunting grounds, we do therefore, with the advice of our privy council, declare it to be our royal will and pleasure that no governor, or commander in chief in any of our colonies |
| of Quebec, East Florida, or West Florida, do presume, upon any pretence whatever, to grant warrants of survey, or pass any patents, for lands beyond the bounds of their respective governments, as described in their commissions; as also that no governor, or commander in chief, in any of our other colonies or plantations in America, do presume, for the present, and until our future pleasure be known, to grant warrants of survey, or pass patents, for any lands beyond the heads or sources of any of the rivers, which fall into the Atlantic ocean from the west and northwest, or upon any lands whatever, which not having been ceded to, or purchased by us, as aforesaid, are reserved to the said Indians or any of them. | |
| And we do further declare it to be our royal will and pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under our sovereignty, protection, and dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all the lands and territories not included within the limits of our said three new governments, or within the limits of the territory granted to the Hudson's bay company, as also all the lands and territories lying to the westward of the sources of the rivers which fall into the sea from the west and northwest, as aforesaid; and we do hereby strictly forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all our loving subjects from making any purchases or settlements whatever, or taking possession of any of the lands above reserved, without our special leave and license for that purpose first obtained. | |
| And we do further strictly enjoin and require all persons whatever, who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves upon any lands within the countries above described, or upon any other lands, which not having been ceded to, or purchased by us, are still reserved to the said Indians, as aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such settlements. | |
| And whereas great frauds and abuses have been committed in the purchasing lands of the Indians, to the great prejudice of our interest, and to the great dissatisfaction of the said Indians, in order, therefore, to prevent such irregularities for the future, and to the end that the Indians may be convinced to our justice and determined resolution to remove all reasonable cause of discontent, we do, with the advice of our |
| privy council, strictly enjoin and require that no private person do presume to make any purchase from the said Indians of any land reserved to the said Indians, within those parts of our colonies where we have thought proper to allow settlements, but that if, at any time, any of the Indians should be inclined to dispose of the said lands, the same shall be purchased only for us, in our name, at some public meeting or assembly of the said Indians to be held for that purpose by the governor or commander in chief of our colonies, respectively, within which they shall lie; and in case they shall lie within the limits of any proprietary government they shall be purchased only for the use, and in the name, of such proprietaries, conformable to such directions and instructions, as we or they shall think proper to give for that purpose: and we do, by the advice of our privy council, declare and enjoin that the trade with the said Indians shall be free and open to all our subjects whatever, provided that every person who may incline to trade with the said Indians do take out a license for carrying on such trade from the governor and commander in chief of any of our colonies, respectively, where such person shall reside, and also give security to observe such regulations as we shall at any time think fit, by ourselves or by our commissaries, to be appointed for this purpose, to direct and appoint for the benefit of the said trade; and we do hereby authorize, enjoin and require the governors and commanders in chief of all our colonies respectively, as well those under our immediate government, as those under the government and direction of proprietaries, to grant such licenses without fee or reward, taking especial care to insert therein a condition that such license shall be void, and the security forfeited, in case the person to whom the same is granted shall refuse or neglect to observe such regulations as we shall think proper to prescribe as aforesaid. | |
| And we do further expressly enjoin and require all officers whatever, as well military as those employed in the management and direction of Indian affairs within the territories reserved, as aforesaid, for the use of the said Indians, to seize and apprehend all persons whatever, who standing charged with treasons, misprisions of treason, murders, or other felonies or misdemeanors, shall fly from justice, and take refuge |
| in the said territory, and to send them under a proper guard to the colony where the crime was committed of which they stand accused, in order to take their trial for the same. | |
| [From Marshall's life of Washington, Vol 1. Appendix Note X p. 37] | |
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| Pages 671-679
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