The Royal Proclamation
BY THE KING A PROCLAMATION
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 Kingdom
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.
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 45. 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
des Chaleurs, and the Coast of the Gulph 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 of St. John.
Secondly -- The Government of East Florida bounded
to the Westward by the Gulph of Mexico and the 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 Gulph of Florida, including all Islands
within Six Leagues of the Sea Coast.
Thirdly -- The Government of West Florida bounded to
the Southward by the Gulph 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 Maurepas, and the River Mississippi; to the
Northward by a Line drawn due East from that part of the River Mississippi
which lies in 31 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
Dominico, St. Vincent's 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. John's to Hudson's
Streights, together with the Islands of Anticosti and Madelaine, and all other
smaller Islands Iying 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 of 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 Councils, 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, and 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 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 our
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 are
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 Quit-Rents,
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
impower our Governors of our said Three new Colonies, and all other our
Governors of our several 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 Quit-Rents 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.
To every Person having the Rank of a Field Officer
-- 5,000 Acres.
To every Captain -- 3,000 Acres.
To every Subaltern or Staff Officer -- 2,000 Acres.
To every Non-Commission Office -- 200 Acres .
To every Private Man -- 50 Acres.
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 further
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 North West, 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 North West 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
especial leave and Licence 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 purchasing Lands of the Indians, to the great Prejudice of our Interests 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 of 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 Lands reserved to the said Indians, within those parts of our Colonies where, We have thought proper to allow Settlement: but that. if at any Time any of the Said 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 Colony 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 Licence for carrying on such Trade from the Governor or 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 Licences without Fee or Reward,
taking especial Care to insert therein a Condition, that such Licence 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 conjoin 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 Treason, 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.
Given at our Court at St. James's the 7th Day of
October 1763 in the Third Year of our Reign.
GOD SAVE THE KING