[ganong] origins of SETTLEMENTS IN NEW BRUNSWICK lOl 



e. The labour and free grant settlements.^ Prior to 1849 all lands 

 granted by the province to settlers had to be paid for in cash, though 

 easy terms of payment were given to immigrants and other actual settlers. 

 In that year, however, an Act called the " Labour Act," was passed by 

 the local legislature, which allowed new settlers to pay for their lands 

 by labour on the roads in and near their settlements. During the next 

 few years a number of tracts were laid out in different parts of the 

 province and settled under this Act. Somewhat later, in 1856, another 

 plan was tried, apparently at the suggestion of H. M. Perley, by which 

 large blocks of land, each having a distinctive U'ame, were laid out for 

 sale by auction to new settlers. The blocks laid out upon this plan in 

 that year were those of Peltoma, Clarendon, Tohique, Connell, Campbell, 

 Bayfield, Blackivood, Monteagle, Trafalgar, Breadalbane, Mcdisro and 

 Balmoral, all of which are shown upon Wilkinson's, and some other 

 maps of the time. The plan, however, did not prove popular, and only 

 a few lots were taken up, so that these blocks were soon after merged 

 into those which could be taken up under the Labour Act, and in this 

 way most of them were partially settled, while some others (Breadalbane 

 and Bayfield) have not been settled to this day. 



^ The publications connected with immigration in this period that I have 

 found are the following: — In 1857 was published H. M. Parley's excellent little 

 " Handbook of Information for Intending Emigrants to New Brunswick." In 

 December, 1859, the Mechanics' Institute of St. John offered two prizes (of 15 

 and 10 guineas ) for the best essays upon " New Brunswick as a Plome for Emi- 

 grants ; with the best means of promoting Immigration, and developing the 

 resources of the Province." The first prize was won by J. V. (now Senator) 

 Ellis, the second by James i^dgar ; the third in merit was by Hon. James Brown, 

 the fourth by William Till and the fifth by W. R. N. Burtis, all of them excellent 

 essays. They were all published in St. John in 1860, and large numbers of 

 them appear to have been distributed. In 1861 Hon. James Brown was sent 

 to Great Britain to represent the advantages of New Brunswick as a home for 

 emigrants, and his interesting Report was published in 1863. In 1870 was 

 published an excellent pamphlet, " Facts for the Information of Intending Emi- 

 grants about the Province of New Brunswick," by Samuel Watts. .\t least three 

 Reports of Immigration to New Brunswick, 1872-73-74, by the then Surveyor-Gen- 

 eral B. R. Stevenson, were published, giving full histories of the Danish, Kintore 

 and Stonehaven settlements, and mentioning emigration pamphlets widely dis- 

 tributed in Great Britain. In 1879 appeared a valuable handbook entitled 

 " Province of New Brunswick, Information for Intending Settlers," by the Sur- 

 veyor-General, Michael Adams, particularly important for its account of the 

 Labour Act and Free Grants Settlements. Another excellent handbook was 

 Lugrin's " New Brunswick," 1886. A later handbook, by Hickman, " Handbook 

 of New Brunswick," 1900, and Hannay's excellent " Province of New Bruns- 

 wick," 1902, complete the list. Further information about these works may 

 be found in the Bibliography. Much information on the subject is also scattered 

 through the Journals of the House of Assembly. 



