Land Grant: June 1790

On June 11, 1790, the British Government in New Brunswick granted to Pierre Duperré a lot of 213 acres on the south bank of the upper St.John River "within the district commonly called Madawaska, in the County o f York." The grant was officially registered on June 14, as grant number 219. (Duperré had already received some land in the grant of January 1787.)

In exchange for this grants, Duperré promised to "yield and pay" unto King George III, his heirs, successors, or to his Receiver-General, 2 shillings for every 100 acres, starting ten years from the date of the grant. The grant was also made conditional upon the grantees improving the land, clearing it and either planting on it or grazing cattle upon it, or building a home on it. (For the text of the conditions of the grant see here.)

Here is a description of the land granted to Duperré:

...beginning on the north-westerly bank or shore of the River St.John, nearly opposite the lower end of the island which lies in the said river, next below the mouth or entrance of Madawaska River, the said place of beginning measuring three chains or twelve poles along the said bank or shore, above or south-westerly from a marked yellow birch tree standing on or near the above-mentioned bank or shore of the River St.John; thence or from the above-described place of beginning, running, by the Magnetic Needle, south forty-five degrees west, one hundred and forty-seven chains, or four poles each; thence south forty-five degrees east, fifteen chains, or until it meets the upper or north-westerly line of lot number thirty-seven, agreeable to the survey or allotments made in the said district; thence along the said upper line of the lot number thirty-seven, north forty-five degrees east, until it meets the south-westerly bank or shore of the River St.John aforesaid: thence along the said bank or shore, following its several courses up stream to the bounds first mentioned; containing in the whole two hundred and thirteen acres, more or less, with the usual allowance of ten per cent. for roads and waste, being partly improved and partly wilderness land, and hath such shape, form and marks as appear by the actual survey thereof made under the directions of our Surveyor-General of our said Province, ...


Duperré apparently was a merchant, and actually lost at least part of the land in a suit brought by Anselme and Michel Robichaud, merchants at Rivière des Capse in Quebec, against Duperré for unpaid debts in late 1791.

Here is the text of a notice that appeared in the Quebec Gazette on November 10, 1791:

By virtue of a Writ of Execution issued out of His Majesty's Court of Common Pleas for the said District, at the Suit of Anselme and Michel Robichaud, merchants, residing at Rivière des Capse, against the moveable and immovable property to Augustin Dubé, heretofore of Madoueska, now of Isle Verte, and Peirre Duperé, Merchant at Madouaska, to me directed, I have seized and taken in execution---

[...]

II. A piece of land belonging to the said Pierre Duperé, the other defendant, containing six arpents (1 arpent =0 .85 acres) in front on the River St.John, at Madouaska, by a league in depth, ending at the ungranted lands, joining on the north-east side to François Albert, and on the south-west side to ungranted lands; together with an old house thatched with straw, 15 feet by 30, a store house of cedar logs, roofed with bark, 18 feet by 30, with arable land for sowing three bushels and a half of grain. Now I do hereby give notice, that [...] the second piece above described situate at Madouaska, will also be sold and adjudged to the highest bidder, at the door of the House or Chapel where the inhabitants meet for Divine Service at Madouaska aforesaid, on Friday, the sixteenth day of December next, at eleven o'Clock in the forenoon, at which respective times and places, the conditions of sale will be made known.

Ja. Shepherd, Sheriff.


The source of the information on this grant is: "Appendix No.36, Grant to Pierre Dupérré, dated 11th June, 1790" in First Statement on the part of Great Britain, according to the Provisions of The Convention Concluded Between Great Britain and the United States, on the 29th September, 1827 for Regulating the Reference to Arbitration of the Disputed Points of Boundary under the Fifth Article of the Treaty of Ghent (1829), pp.258-260.

This Grant can be found in the Provincial Grantbook, Volume III, Grant number 219. Much of this information is available in the on-line searchable database of land grants maintained by the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick at http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/RS686/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA.

The source of the article from the Quebec Gazette quoted above is "Appendix No.28, "Extracts from the Quebec Gazette--1st...." in First Statement on the part of Great Britain, according to the Provisions of The Convention Concluded Between Great Britain and the United States, on the 29th September, 1827 for Regulating the Reference to Arbitration of the Disputed Points of Boundary under the Fifth Article of the Treaty of Ghent (1829), p.223.


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Last revised 4 Jul 2015
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