A summary of colonial law

by

“The colonies now belonging to the Crown of Great Britain, exclusive of those under the government of the East India Company, (to which this work does not profess to extend,) are as follows:

In the West Indies and South America:

  1. Antigua, including Barbuda
  2. Barbadoes
  3. British Guiana
  4. Dominica
  5. Grenada
  6. Jamaica
  7. Montserrat
  8. Navis
  9. St. Christopher’s, including Anguilla
  10. St. Lucia
  11. St. Vincent
  12. Tobago
  13. Trinidad
  14. Virgin Islands

In North America, continental and insular:

  1. Bahama Islands
  2. The Bermuda, or Somer’s Islands
  3. Canada, Lower
  4. Canada, Upper
  5. Prince Edward’s Island
  6. New Brunswick
  7. Newfoundland, with part of Labrador
  8. Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton

Africa:

  1. Cape of Good Hope
  2. Sierra Leone, with the settlements on the Gold Coast

In the Indian Seas:

  1. Ceylon
  2. Mauritius, with the Seychelles

In the South Seas:

  1. New South Wales, with Norfolk Island
  2. Van Dieman’s Land
  3. Western Australia

(In this enumeration of the colonies nothing has been said of Honduras, which has been decided expressly not to be a colony (see ante p.2 n.1.)

These are almost all of the class above described, as Provincial establishments, there being at present no Proprietary government, nor with the exception of Sierra Leone, any Charter Government among the colonial dependencies of Great Britain.”

“The constitution of Nova Scotia is, by royal commission, a representative provincial government, one of the three original forms of the colonial constitutions.. Its legislature is formed upon that of the United Kingdom, and consists of a Council and House of Assembly. The council are twelve in number, at the head of whom are the Chief Justice of the province, who is the president, and the Bishop of Nova Scotia, who ranks next to him.

In 1758, a House of Representatives was formed, agreeably to a constitution granted to the colony, corresponding to that of England.”

Clark, Charles. “A summary of colonial law : the practice of the court of appeals from the plantations and of the laws and their administration in all the colonies; with charters of justice, orders in council, &c.” London : S. Sweet, A. Maxwell, and Stevens; Dublin : R. Milliken, 1834. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.54637

Related posts:

  1. America and West Indies Colonial Papers: September 1720, 1-15 The comprises correspondence regarding the security and territorial disputes involving Carolina, Nova Scotia, and the Island of Providence in 1720. Mr. Delafaye conveyed concerns about the security of these regions, prompting inquiries into the state of the Island of Providence...
  2. “A new map of Nova Scotia, and Cape Britain: With the adjacent parts of New England and Canada” “Bay of Fundy or Argal”, “Gulf of Nova Scotia”, “Cape Britain” “A new map of Nova Scotia, and Cape Britain: With the adjacent parts of New England and Canada, composed from a great number of actual surveys” Jefferys, Thomas. [London]...
  3. America and West Indies Colonial Papers: February 1662 These documents address English claims to Nova Scotia against French encroachment, detailing instances of French aggression. Thomas Temple petitions for time to gather evidence to counter French claims and emphasizes Nova Scotia’s strategic importance to England. Various legal opinions and...
  4. America and West Indies Colonial Papers: January 1659 Minute of Articles proposed by Capt. Breedon on the part of Col. Thos. Temple, Lieut. Gen. of Nova Scotia, to Lord Fienes and others, the Company of Adventures, for settling a trade in those parts; the course first designed by...
  5. “The general cession of Nova Scotia” 220. Mr. Delafaye to the Council of Trade and Plantations. I have laid before the Lords Justices your representation of the proper measures to be taken for the security of Carolina and Nova Scotia. Their Excys. judging that care should...
  6. America and West Indies Colonial Papers: October 1729, 21-31 Order of Committee of Privy Council. Referring back to the Council of Trade and Plantations reports of 21st March and 14th May upon Col. Dunbar’s proposal for settling Nova Scotia etc. Their Lordships observing that the first report was made...
  7. Royal Instructions to British Colonial Governors 1670–1776 24. Governor’s Commission and Title: Nova Scotia With these our instructions you will receive our commission under our great seal of Great Britain constituting you OUR Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over our Province of Nova Scotia...
  8. From John Adams to Boston Patriot, 12 July 1809 “Upon looking over again the words of the first article, there seems to be room for dispute, which a British minister, in the present state of his country, would be capable of taking advantage of. The terms which are used...
  9. History of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, the Sable Islands, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, the Bermudas, Newfoundland, &c., &c. “The territorial distribution of the Nova Scotia government is – 1. Eastern division, 2. Middle; 3. Western; 4. Halifax; 5. Cape Breton; there are ten counties, some of which are again subdivided into districts and townships for the more convenient...
  10. “Articles proposed by Capt. Breedon on the part of Col. Thos. Temple, Lieut. Gen. of Nova Scotia, to Lord Fienes and others, the Company of Adventures; Petition of Capt. Thomas Breedon, merchant, of New England, to Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector” 64. Minute of Articles proposed by Capt. Breedon on the part of Col. Thos. Temple, Lieut. Gen. of Nova Scotia, to Lord Fienes and others, the Company of Adventures, for settling a trade in those parts; the course first designed...