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THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

grants. The bounds too were ill defined, no proper survey having been made, and the difficulties afterwards arising out of disputed boundaries furnished a not unprofitable employment for the lawyers of the next half-century.

The Canada Company were so fortunate as to obtain the grant of five fine large townships, containing in the aggregate more than 400,000 acres. Three of the townships, namely, Burton, Gage and Conway, were granted October 18, 1765, the other two, Sunbury and New Town, on October 31, 1765. The predominance of the military element in the company is clearly seen in the naming of the first three townships—Burton in honor of Brig. Gen'l Ralph Burton[1]; Gage, or Gage Town, in honor of General Thomas Gage (himself a principal grantee); and Conway in honor of General Henry S. Conway, then lately appointed His Majesty's Secretary of State. The township of Sunbury was, of course, quite distinct from the county of the same name.

The location of the townships may be thus roughly stated:—

1. Conway lay on the west side of the river St. John, and extended from the harbor up the river as far as Brandy Point, including in its bounds the parish of Lancaster and part of Westfield.

2. Gage extended from Otnabog to Swan Creek, and included the present parish of Gagetown.

3. Burton extended from Swan Creek to the Oromocto river, and included the present parish of Burton and part of Blissville.

4. Sunbury began at "Old Mill creek," a little below Fredericton, extending up the river as far as Long's Creek and including the city of Fredericton, the parish of New Maryland and the parish of Kingsclear.

  1. ↑ A friend and contemporary of Generals Gage and Haldimand.
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