Proprietary Governors were individuals authorized to govern proprietary colonies. Under the proprietary system, individuals or companies were granted commercial charters by the King 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. The provinces of Maryland, Carolina and several other colonies in the Americas were initially established under the proprietary system.
These colonies were distinct from royal 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 1700s, 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 Proprietary House occupies an important place in American history as the residence of the last appointed Royal Governor of New Jersey, William Franklin.
It was built on a sizable scale with the intent to bolster the prestige of its owners, the Proprietors of East Jersey, by convincing the colonialgovernor to choose the house and Perth Amboy as his official residence.
When Governor Franklin finally selected the house as his residence a decade later, he was afforded elaborate new interior decorations and elegant new stables, but his tenancy was short lived because of his arrest and removal from Perth Amboy in 1776.
Governor Sharpe was a welcome visitor at the Scott house until the time of his death in 1789, when he appointed his friend, the owner, one of his executors.
Governor Robert Eden, the last of the ProprietaryGovernors, who served from 1769 to 1774, was at times almost a member of the Scott household.
Governor Eden was looked upon with favor by the patriots in Maryland because he was always moderate and advised the repeal of the tax on tea.
Feeds |
Contact