[RAYMOND] PRE-LOYALIST SETTLEMENTS OF NOVA SCOTIA 93 
William, George, Abner, James, Joseph, Benjamin, John and Patrick 
McNutt an aggregate of 130,000 acres more. This does not take into 
account the immense tracts on the River St. John, which were explored 
by Alexander McNutt and reserved for him but afterwards granted to 
other persons. 
In spite of his complaint of hard treatment McNutt obtained many 
of his grants under terms more favourable than were accorded to others. 
In some of his grants there was no reservation to the Crown of iron and 
other minerals. In the large tracts granted to him at Londonderry, in 
the County of Colchester, valuable deposits of iron ore have been worked 
ever since their discovery many years ago. These from the absence 
of any reservation in the original grant pay no royalty to the Crown. 
In looking at the Surveyor General’s plans of McNutt’s immense 
erants and reservations and counting the acreage, we need not wonder 
that the Colonel considered himself the owner of half the forest lands 
of Nova Scotia. This assumption brought him into conflict with the 
authorities and in June, 1767, Attorney-general Nesbit reported to the 
Governor in Council that Alexander McNutt had parcelled out lands 
to several persons, claiming to have authority under the King’s Sign 
Manual to settle any ungranted lands in the Province. On this it was 
ordered that the Attorney General should prosecute Mr. MeNutt, and 
that a proclamation should be issued forbidding unauthorized occupation 
of land and cutting timber under penalties. 
There can be but little doubt that MeNutt’s republican proclivities, 
which he did not take pains to dissemble, prejudiced him in the eyes 
of the Government of Nova Scotia. Here we may again quote from 
the report of the Council to the Lords of Trade of the 30th August, 1766: 
“Colonel McNutt complains that the settlers introduced by him have 
been denied several of the privileges promised and granted to them, 
but we know of no persons who are deprived of those rights or the 
Liberty which the laws and constitution of Great Britain or of this 
-Province intitle them to.” The Council state moreover that some of 
the Colonel’s proposals would, if granted, be prejudicial to the peace 
and good government of the province, particularly that of allowing 
two representatives in General Assembly to every township he might 
settle, more especially should those he might in future introduce be 
of the same troublesome disposition with some he had already brought, 
the Government having experienced more difficulty in keeping peace 
and good order in the two little Towns of Truro and Londonderry, 
settled by Colonel MeNutt’s followers, than with all the other Settle- 
ments in the whole Province, “These two settlements,” the Council 
add, “are mostly composed of persons from the Charter Governments 
(of New England) who still retain so great a degree of republican 
