BY
THE KlNG. 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 Iying 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
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 Officer,--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
pa
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
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 prescribc 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
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