Land Petitions : 1783-1834.

Call Number:
HIL-MICL FC LPR .N4S9L3P4
Category:
New Brunswick
Creator:
New Brunswick. Surveyor General.
Material Description:
65 microfilm records 35 mm
Background:

The series contains the earliest petitions for grants of land in New Brunswick. Before a Crown Land Grant could be issued to a settler, a petition had to be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor in Council on Land Matters. If the petition were allowed, an Order/Warrant of Survey was issued to the deputy-surveyor, who then established the boundaries of the land to be granted. Once the surveyor had fulfilled all his duties, the grant was issued to the petitioner and this document became the proof of ownership for the land.

Contents:

The petitions vary considerably in the amount of information they contain about the petitioner, his family and his reasons for requesting the land grant. Many are very brief, while others, especially the earlier ones, may provide a great deal of information about the petitioner's background, place or origin, military service or other service he may have rendered to the Crown, his present circumstances, and any other details which the petitioner felt would improve his chances of a favourable decision. The petitions are arranged alphabetically by name of petitioner within each year.

Originals:
The original Land Petitions are held by the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.
Archival Ref. No.:
PANB RS 108.
Finding Aids:

Online: Provincial Archives of New Brunswick has online an index to this collection. Use the Microfilm Shelf List to correspond their reel numbers to UNB's; see Electronic Finding Aid section below.

A microfilm shelf list is available in print and as PDF in the electronic finding aids section. It contains the UNB microfilm reel numbers and the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick reel numbers for the early series of Land Petitions, and for three additional reels of early petitions.

PDF Finding Aid:
NB Surveyor General Land Petitions Shelf List.pdf
Notes:

The complete collection of Land Petitions extends in time from 1783 to 1918. Only the Petitions from 1783 to 1834 are available in the Loyalist Collection.

The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick holds a complementary series of Land Petitions. The reference is, Land Petitions: Current Series, RS 272.