CHAPTER
IV: 1787-1800
LAND
POLICY
Lieutenant-Governor
Macarmick ushered in a more hopeful era. He "had been instructed to do his utmost to
encourage settlement and to grant lands freely"; this he endeavoured to do. "A
great many settlers were able to secure absolute title to their lands during Macarmick's
regime. A close study of the Council Minutes during this period reveals that 652 grants of
land were passed upon by Macarmick and his Council. These grants were conceded mainly on
the eastern, southern, and western parts of the Island and it is only reasonable to
suppose that the majority of the people receiving these grants eventually settled on their
lands". [116] This policy, however, was short-lived.
In the year 1789 or
1790, his majesty issued a general order to all governors, lieutenant-governors,
presidents of council, and commanding officers, restraining them from granting any lands
in their respective governments till further orders. In defiance of the King's command,
they had been in the habit of granting permits to their adherents, to occupy large tracts
of the most valuable lands in the Island, to an extent which even to this day remains
unknown. From that illegal and very unwarrantable proceeding they derived great
advantages, by the fees of office upon the permits, and at the same time secured the
steady support of their friends and adherents.
This practice
produced very pernicious effects in the settlement and furnished cause for endless
litigation. [117]
The violation of the
Crown's orders to discontinue land grants led to the following proclamation being issued
by Imperial authorities in the name of the Crown concerning Cape Breton and the Sydney
Council.
Whereas it has been
presented unto me, that diverse grants, permits, and licences of occupation for land, have
been issued and given by the Honourable David Mathews, late president of H.M. Council, to
sundry persons now holding, occupying, possessing, or claiming right to lands under such
grants, permits, and licences of occupation, are contrary to and in direct violation of
His Majesty's restraining orders and instructions, given in the year one thousand seven
hundred and eighty nine, those deluded persons, now holding or claiming right to land
under such tenure, have, in fact, no legal right, claim, or title whatsoever, to any such
lands, so held or claimed.
Persons were selected
from each district to check the inhabitants' claims to land. Edward Rowe was placed in
charge of the district of Louisbourg.[118] In this way, the Imperial authorities kept tight
control of land in Cape Breton, permitting only leases, permits and licences of
occupation, but no land grants following 1790.
It should be noted
here that on June 15th, 1789, the Council granted fifty petitions for land. Those
petitioners receiving land in the district of Louisbourg were: Rev. Ranna Cossit (1000
acres on the Louisbourg Road); Thomas Livingston (200 acres on the Louisbourg Road and a
Town Lot); George Cryer (two lots in Block G and two hundred acres on the Louisbourg
Road); Sam Peters (tract on Louisbourg Road); Robert Graham (a tract on Louisbourg Road);
Thomas Pitts (two water lots on the Louisbourg - 400 acres). [119] The proclamation of 1790
probably made the grants useless. It is to be noted further that none of these lots seem
to have been in the Old Town of Louisbourg.
LICENCES
AND LEASES FOR OLD TOWN LAND
The
year 1795 saw several leases on land in the Old Town issued. All these were in the name of
Lieutenant-Governor Macarmick. They were issued just before his departure.
On
April 3, 1795, the Crown gave "Permission to Dennis and James Kennedy in Louisbourg
to hold and occupy and Enjoy during Pleasure a Lot of Land in the said Town beginning at a
stake at the fish flakes thence running S.45dE. Eighteen Chains thence N.10dW;
seventeen chains to the shore of Louisbourg Harbor thence follow[ing] the shore westerly
to the place of beginning. Also a Lot beginning at the Brew House one Dse[?] running N.75dW
one hundred and Six Chains thence S.15dW." [120]
Pierce
Kennedy, Pierce Kennedy Jr., and John Burke received, on 6 April 1795, permission "to
hold occupy and possess during Pleasure a lot of land in the Town of Louisbourg beginning
at the West Gate thence S:7Ds West three Chains - thence S:33dS:8¼
Chains thence N.8.40E 11½ Chains thence S:45o E19 chains to the Sea
Shore thence Northerly in a Direct Course five Chains to the S.E. Corner of Lot No. 1
thence N.45. W:18 Chains to the shore of the Harbour thence along said shore to the place
of beginning. Also Lots No. 1 and 2 beginning at said West Gate thence S.10o
West 100 Chains thence N.800W. Eighteen Chains thence N.100E: one
hundred six chains to the shore thence Easterly along shore to the place of beginning
containing one hundred Ninety Acres". [121] The amount of land indicated in this licence
would suggest that it included only part of the Old Town, the rest being outside the
walls. The Kennedy's seem to have held a tight grip on the area of the Fortress lands. It
is not surprising considering the large family they comprised. More will be said about the
Kennedys later. Apparently these licences agreed upon a division among themselves, and
Pierce Kennedy Senior and Junior fenced their portion around 1800 and built a house and
barn. [122]
The
year 1795 also saw a lease obtained from the Crown by Richard Wheeler (a name that
appeared among the Louisbourg petitioners of 1766). He was to "possess during
Pleasure a Lot of Land in the Town of Louisbourg, beginning at the Eastern part of the
South Bomb proof thence running N:80DsE: fifty links thence E. seven Chains
fifty links thence S:45ds E. seventeen Chains to a Stake and Stones thence
following the course of the Walls Westerly to the place of beginning. Also a Lot on the
West side of the Harbour ..." [123]
A
lease was issued to one John Mugridge on 13 April 1795 by the Crown for a lot of land
"in the Town of Louisbourg beginning at the S.W. corner of Lot # 3 thence running
S:16dE. 25 Links thence S:61D West two Chains, thence S. three
Chains, thence S. 80DE. seventeen Chains thence northerly four Chains to the
S:E. corner boundary of No. 3 thence S:45d W Seventeen Chains thence N.82DW.
Seven Chains to the place of beginning ..." [124]
On 6
April 1795 the Crown granted a licence to Mathew Kehoe "to occupy and possess during
Pleasure a Lot of Land at Louisbourg beginning at a stake near the West Gate of the Town
thence S ...10D West one hundred and Eight chains to the shore side Easterly
along shore to the place of beginning. Also to Thomas Kehoe, a Lot of Land beginning on
the Beach in front of Townsend's Pond thence N:8d East 100 chains thence N.62d
E. Ten Chains thence S:8:W one hundred chains to the shore, westerly along shore to the
place of beginning containing together 160 acres ..." [125] The latter lot is not likely to
have been in the Old Town, but across the harbour.
Dennis
Kehoe on the thirteenth of April 1795 also received from the Crown "Permission ... to
hold occupy and possess during pleasure a Lot of Land in the Town of Louisbourg beginning
at the East End of the Middle Bomb Proof thence S.79ds East five Chains of
fifty Links thence S. 82 E. seven Chains thence S.45o E. seventeen chains to
the Sea Shore thence northerly following the Courses of the Shore Three Chains to the S.E.
corner of Lot number 2: thence N.450 W. Nineteen Chains thence S.840
W. Eleven and a half Chains thence S.3d E: four Chains to the place of
beginning Containing Nine Acres and a half agreeable to the plan annexed ..."
[126]There
was no plan available, unfortunately.
It is
interesting to note the explanation given for the licences in the preamble of each. Most
of them say something to this effect:
It
being greatly to the advantage and benefit of His Majesty's Colony that the unappropriated
and unoccupied Lands therein should be Cultivated and improved and that those persons who
have become settlers Since the restriction for Granting Lands has taken place should be
Accomodated during pleasure with the use of and occupation thereof Agreeable to His
Majesty's Instructions. [127]
Regrettably,
probably as a result of opposition or lack of support from Imperial authorities for some
of his policies, Lieutenant-Governor Macarmick left his post on 27 May 1795, and
administration of Cape Breton was left in the hands of Attorney-General David Mathews
until the arrival of the new Lieutenant Governor, Major General Ogilvie, on 29 June 1798.
He was the first of a succession of military governors who proved incapable of ably
administrating the island. This inefficient government and the gradual reduction of
military strength to an unsatisfactory level for the defence of the Island did not
encourage settlement.[128] Many embittered settlers probably left the island in search for more
secure homes.
Between
Governor Macarmick's departure and the beginning of the new century, we find one petition
for land in the Louisbourg area. On 20 June 1799 Edward Rowe petitioned "for a Tract
of Land lying and being at the outside of the walls of Louisbourg Harbour leading from
where the Barracks stood to the Southward, to a place called the Black Rock containing
about Thirty Acres more or less also a little Island known by the name of Island Battery,
the same laying to the southward of the entrance of the Harbour of Louisbourg Containing
about one acre of ground more or less also a water Lot for the Purpose of building a wharf
a breast the road known by the name of King Street ..."
Mathews,
"President of His Majesty's Council, Sydney" gave permission to the applicant
"to take possession of and cultivate them [the grounds] until His Majesty's Pleasure
is known" providing that the "grounds are vacant". [129]
THE
INHABITANTS
An
interesting letter of 5 July 1796, [130] from a local government official, W. McKinnon, to the
President of Council at Sydney, David Mathews, gives some idea of a legal entanglement
with which a Pierce Kennedy was involved. It reads:
In
consequence of your Honours letter to me dated the 25th Instant I told Mr. Pierce Kennedy
his Petition was to come regularly under the cognisance of his Majesty's Council, which I
am now sorry to observe is not your Honours intentions.
He
has this evening called upon me, (hearing there was a Council) for a Report thereon that
he might be prepared with the same previous to his trial of Tomorrow - Your Honour
will be pleased to relieve me by furnishing some direction to regulate an answer to the
Petitioner -
A
portion of the inhabitants of Louisbourg seem to have been Catholic and of Irish descent,
especially those in the Old Town. The names on the licences give us some idea of their
origins. As well, we have the report of Father Lejamtel, a Catholic priest, who wrote in
1799 "that he had charge of the Irish at Louisbourg and in its neighbourhood and that
he had to visit them 'incessantly'". The Catholics there petitioned him in the
following words:
We,
the Catholics of the district here unto annexed, request and Pray the Revd. Mr. Lejamtel
that he may Please to take us in as a Part of his Mission, so as to attend twice in the
year, that is to say, in the summer and fall and oftener if convenient to him. We will pay
him the sum prefixt to our Names, as witness our hands ...
The
petition was signed by the following residents of Louisbourg: Dennis Kennedy, Pierre
[Pierce?] Kennedy, John Maugende [Mugridge?], John Warner, Mathew Kehoe, Dennis Kehoe and
David Bolden and the average annual contribution they promised was 14S 3d. It is worthy of
notice that probably five of the seven were those receiving licences in 1795. Father
Lajamtel confirms the number of Catholics at Louisbourg in a letter to Bishop Plessis on
12 August 1800, in which he reports that as of 1799 "there are seven or eight
Catholic families" at Louisbourg. [131]
In
the light of this information, the map by Thomas Backhouse in 1798 entitled "A Survey
of Louisbourg Harbour, to Rupert George, Esq., Commander of his Majesty's Ship, Hessar,
and Senior Officer on the Nova Scotia Station ..." [132] seems quite logical. It provides
an artist's concept of the Fortress of this date. Only six buildings are indicated on the
Forterss site; they are shown clustered together near the west gate. The roadway around
the harbour is also portrayed, but the indication is that the settlement there was sparse,
as only four houses are shown in that area. Although the exact number of houses shown at
Louisbourg may not be of correct, it would seem to be somewhat in accord with the number
of inhabitants our sources indicate as being present.
An
interesting observation by the present local Women's Institute [133] with regard to the small
population of the period in question is worth noting. It is similar in tone to
observations made by Samuel Holland in 1767.
During the latter
part of the eighteenth century there was a gradual decline of population due to many
removing to larger centres or to the United States to go fishing or sailing out of
American ports. There was not much inducement for young people to stay at home and fish.
They were at the mercy of fish merchants in Halifax who charged them as much as they dared
for their fishing gear and their provisions, while paying them the lowest prices for their
fish. The merchants know well that once their catch reached the port of Halifax the
fishermen would take whatever they offered.
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