Proprietary colony

A proprietary colony was a type of English colony mostly in North America and in the Caribbean in the 17th century. In the British Empire, all land belonged to the monarch, and it was his/her prerogative to divide. Therefore, all colonial properties were partitioned by royal charter into one of four types: proprietary, royal, joint stock, or covenant. King Charles II used the proprietary solution to reward allies and focus his own attention on Britain itself. He offered his friends colonial charters which facilitated private investment and colonial self-government. The charters made the proprietor the effective ruler, albeit one ultimately responsible to English Law and the King. Charles II gave New Amsterdam to his younger brother The Duke of York, who named it New York.[1] He gave an area to William Penn who named it Pennsylvania.[2]

Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore was the first Proprietor, and his brother Leonard Calvert was the first Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland.

This type of indirect rule eventually fell out of favor as the colonies became established and administrative difficulties eased. The English sovereigns sought to concentrate their power and authority and the colonies were converted to Crown colonies, i.e. governed by officials appointed by the King, replacing the people the King had previously appointed and under different terms.

Historical precedent

In medieval times, it was customary in Continental Europe for a sovereign to grant almost regal powers of government to the feudal lords of his border districts, so as to prevent foreign invasion. These districts or manors were often called palatinates or counties palatine, because the lord wielded the power of the king in his palace. His power was regal in kind, but inferior in degree to that of the king.[3]

This type of arrangement had caused many problems in Norman times for certain English border counties. These territories were known as counties palatine and they lasted at least in part to 1830 and for good reason: remoteness, poor communications, governance carried out under difficult circumstances. The monarch and his or her government, retained its usual right to separate head and body, figuratively or literally, at any time. (See also the hereditary title marquess.)[4]

Under the proprietary system, individuals or companies were granted commercial charters by the monarchs of the Kingdom of England to establish colonies. These proprietors then selected the governors and other officials in the colony. This system was used to establish several colonies on the island of Newfoundland. Proprietary colonies in America were governed by a lord proprietor, who, holding authority by virtue of a royal charter, usually exercised that authority almost as an independent sovereign.[5] The provinces of Maryland, Carolina and several other colonies in the Americas were initially established under the proprietary system. These colonies were distinct from crown colonies in that they were commercial enterprises established under authority of the crown. Proprietary governors had legal responsibilities over the colony as well as responsibilities to shareholders to ensure the security of their investments. The proprietary system was a mostly inefficient system, in that the proprietors were, for the most part, like absentee landlords. Many never even visited the colonies they owned. By the early 18th century, nearly all of the proprietary colonies had either surrendered their charters to the crown to become royal colonies, or else had significant limitations placed on them by the crown.

The Caribbean

Barbados

British America colonies before the American Revolution

The British America colonies before the American Revolution consisted of thirteen colonies that became states of the United States of America.

Canada

French examples

In 1603, Henry IV, the King of France, granted Pierre Du Gua de Monts the exclusive right to colonize lands in North America between 40°–60° North latitude. The King also gave Dugua a monopoly in the fur trade for these territories and named him Lieutenant General for Acadia and New France. In return, Dugua promised to bring 60 new colonists each year to what would be called l'Acadie. In 1607 the monopoly was revoked and the colony failed, but in 1608 he sponsored Samuel de Champlain to open a colony at Quebec.[6]

The Iles Glorieuses, i.e. Glorioso Islands, were on 2 March 1880 settled and named by Frenchman Hippolyte Caltaux (b. 1847–d. after 1907), who was their proprietor from then till 1891. Only on 23 August 1892 they were claimed for the French Third Republic, as part of the Indian Ocean colony of French Madagascar.

However he was again their proprietor from 1901 till his death in 1907.

On 26 June 1960 they became a regular French possession, initially administered by the High Commissioner for Réunion, on 3 January 2005 transferred to the administrators of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

References

David S. Lovejoy, "Equality and Empire The New York Charter of Liberties, 1683," William and Mary Quarterly (1964) 21#4 pp. 493-515 in JSTOR.
Joseph E. Illick, "The Pennsylvania Grant: A Re-Evaluation," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (1962) 85#4 pp. 375-396 in JSTOR
Osgood, H. L. American Historical Review, July, 1897, p. 644
Martinez (2008)
Elson, Henry William, History of the United States of America, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1904. Chapter IV
Roper (2007)