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This backward state of the
Colony was due in a great measure to the unsettled conditions in the
Countries of Europe. For a long time France and England had been almost
continually at war, and as may well be supposed the Colonial possessions
of the rival Nations shared in the ups and downs of the Mother Countries.
Hence, though the claim is made that Prince Edward Island was discovered
by the English as early as the year 1497 no attempt was made to colonize
it for many years after that date. It was not till France claimed it as
forming part of the discoveries made by Verazzani in 1523 that a real
determined effort was put forth to bring immigrants to its shores.
A process of gradual
development was then inaugurated and continued without interruption for
about thirty-five years, during which time the population gradually
increased in number. The French Government stood ever behind the work of
colonization, and not for selfish motives either; because the movement
seemed always as much religious as it was national. For this reason, the
Church :vas ever in the foreground and parochial arrangements kept pace
with the work of civil establishment.
In this way Parishes with
resident Pastors were established at Fort LaJoie near the entrance to
Charlottetown Harbour, at St. Louis near Scotchfort, at St. Peters on the
North side of the Island, at Point Prim, and at Malpeque on the shores of
Richmond Bay. It is estimated that the population had grown well beyond
five thousand, when, in 1756 war was again declared between England and
France and the Colonial possessions of the two rival Nations entered upon
armed hostilities. The strongest position held by the French in America
was Louisburg on Cape Breton Island, and to this the English laid Beige in
the Spring of 1758. In less than two months the fortress was reduced and
fell into the hands of the invaders. Encouraged by this success the
English commander dispatched a portion of his fleet under Lord Rollo to
Prince Edward Island, with strict orders to destroy all property belonging
to the French, and to drive out the inhabitants.
These orders were carried out to the letter.
Lord Rollo with his ships of war appeared at the entrance of the
Charlottetown Harbour and summoned Fort LaJoie to surrender. The garrison
at the Fort was too weak to offer resistance, and soon the Saint John's
Island of the French passed out of their hands to become in after years
the Prince Edward Island of the British. Thus the work of development,
inaugurated during the French occupation came to <.n end, and for the
years that followed, that is till the coming of the Scottish Catholics in
1772, little or nothing was done to improve the conditions of the little
Colony. By the Treaty of Fontainbleau in 1763 Prince Edward Island was
formally ceded to Great Britain, and was placed for the time under the
Government of Nova Scotia. In the following year Captain Holland was
appointed to make a survey of the British possessions in North America,
and in the month of October, 1764 he arrived in Prince Edward Island and
forthwith began operations. Within a year from that date his work on the
Island was complete, and he was able to furnish the British authorities
with a very accurate and full description of Prince Edward Island. With
this information in their possession, the authorities evolved a plan for
the settlement of the Colony, which was probably conceived in good faith,
and with the very best intentions; but which unfortunately failed in
accomplishing its purpose, owing to circumstances that might easily have
been foreseen at the time.
The plan adopted was this : According to the
survey made by Captain Holland the entire Island was divided into
sixty-seven townships containing each about twenty thousand acres and
these it was decided to bestow by grant on persons having claims for
military service. In adjusting these claims it was found, that the number
of applicants was far in excess of the land divisions to be disposed of,
and to settle the matter in justice to all, the authorities hit upon the
novel plan of setting up the lands by lottery, and the holders of the
lucky numbers thus became proprietors of the various townships. Three Lots
were excepted, Lot 66 was reserved to the Crown, Lots 40 and 59 were
granted directly to persons who had already established Fisheries upon
them. The plan of the Lottery is thus described by a writer: "The Board of
Trade ordered all petitioners for grants, to appear before them personally
or by deputy on the 17th, and 24th of June, and first of July, 1767, in
support of their respective claims. During three days after hearing
parties, they selected those whose claims seemed preferable, and on the
8th of July the list was completed and finally adopted. The balloting took
place on the 23rd of July, 1767, in presence of the Board. The name of
each applicant was written on a slip of paper or ticket, and put in the
ballot-box, the Lots being granted in running numbers as they were drawn."
In this way the entire Island was disposed of
in one day, and it is from this circumstance that it derives the name of
"Lots," applied ever afterwards to the divisions or Townships of Prince
Edward Island. As
mentioned above, the object in making this allotment was to promote a
speedy settlement of the Colony, and with this end in view, the following
conditions were attached to the grants. Each proprietor was obliged to
settle his Township at the rate of one person to every two hundred acres
within ten years from the date of his grant. This latter condition was
undoubtedly intended in the best interest of the Colony ; but,
unfortunately the proprietors almost to a man neglected to fulfil their
obligations in this particular, to the great detriment of the Colony.
Having come into possession of the land, they would seem to have reached
the goal of their ambition, and utterly failed to carry out the terms with
regard to the settlement of the country. On this point a writer observes:
"Thus it appears that in the first ten years after the commencement of the
settlement only nineteen of the sixty-seven Townships were attempted to be
settled, and of these only the proprietors of Lots 18, 21, 28, 31, 34, 36,
52, 57, 58, and 59 ever brought any considerable number of people to the
Island." Of the
effects of this neglect on the part of the proprietors the same writer has
this to say: "It may easily be conceived that so many of the proprietors
neglecting their lands was very injurious to the Island, and extremely
discouraging to the few who had commenced the settlement on the faith of
the whole taking their just proportion of the burden thereof, and in fact,
the active proprietors were all great sufferers, though at this day I
believe there is no person acquainted with the Island, but that will
readily admit that if the whole of the proprietors had been equally active
all must have been great gainers by the Colony, which by this time would
have been a populous well settled country This very extensive defalcation
on the part of so many of the proprietors in performing the terms of
settlement was very distressing and severely felt by most of those who had
engaged therein. They had to begin mostly on new lands, and to import a
great part of their daily subsistence from other countries, they were
scattered in small settlements at a great distance from each other, in a
country totally without roads, and many of the first settlers either from
their own ignorance, or that of those by whom they were sent to the
Island, were landed without provisions or any means of support, and many
on that account were obliged to abandon the settlement which brought most
unjust odium on the Colony, for, as often happens, men were willing to
attribute their failure to anything but their own misconduct or
imprudence. Though a good many people were thus lost to the Island,
industry and perseverance enabled those who remained gradually to surmount
their difficulties, and as they acquired experience of the climate and
soil, they became more firmly attached to the country." (Stewart)
In these circumstances it is not surprising
that the Colony made slow progress, and the few settlers who had taken up
lands here and there were absolutely powerless to remedy conditions over
which they had no control. Up till now Prince Edward Island was subject to
the Government of Nova Scotia, and being far from the centre of authority
with means of communication exceedingly primitive many abuses might arise,
many inconveniences exist that could easily be removed, if persons
invested with competent authority were at hand. On this account an
agitation sprung up in favor of securing a separate Government for Prince
Edward Island, and a petition embodying this desire was numerously signed
by the inhabitants and forwarded to London. The prayer of this Petition
was granted, and in 1769 the Island became an independent Colony separated
from Nova Scotia, and in the following year the first Governor, Walter
Patterson, Esquire arrived in the Colony with all the officers necessary
to establish the machinery of Government in Prince Edward Island. |
