Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. The Proprietors Of Carolina "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore During the quadricentennial of the founding of the Sir Walter Raleigh Colony at Roanoke Island, we are reminded that he called the region Virginia, honoring Queen Elizabeth. The permanent English settlement was made at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, but in 1624 the Virginia Company's Charter was revoked & Virginia became the property of the Crown. This was during the reign of King James I (1603-1625), the successor of Queen Elizabeth & the first Stuart king of England. In 1625 Charles I came to the throne on the death of his father. He had married Henrietta Maria, daughter of King Henry IV of France. In 1629 he gave a grant to the region south of Virginia to Sir Robert Heath, the Attorney-General of England. The region was called "Carolina" for the first time & was named for King Charles I who was beheaded in 1649 during the Puritan Rebellion. Some grants were made on the Albemarle Sound as early as 1648, but historians agree that the first settlements were made around 1653. The oldest recorded deed still in existence was made to George Durant in 1661 by an Indian & is still preserved in the Register of Deeds Office in Perquimans County. England was too much involved in civil war to be too concerned about the settlement of Carolina. In 1660, the English, being tired of Puritan rule & probably thirsty for liturgical worship, called Charles II to return to England as their king. He was anxious to reward the loyal followers of his late father so he revoked the Heath Grant & gave all of what is now North & South Carolina to eight Lord's Proprietors. The original Lord's Proprietors were: Edward Hyde, the Earl of Clarendon & Lord High Chancellor of England; George Monck, the Duke of Albemarle, Captain General of the King's Forces; William, Lord Craven; John Lord Berkeley; Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftsbury, the Chancelor of Exchequer; Sir George Carteret, Vice Chamberlain of the King's Household; Sir William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia; & Sir John Colleton. Practically all of the names have been preserved as geographical place names in both the Carolinas. The original Charter on fine porchment is now preserved in a fire proof glass case at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. In 1664, Albemarle County was created & William Drummond of Virginia became the first governor. In 1665 the county of Clarendon at Cape Fear was established with Sir John Yeamans as governor of the county. The English Court system was adopted & the foundation for English Common Law was laid. The English system of local government was adapted to the colony. During the Proprietary period, 1663-1729, the following towns were established in North Carolina: Bath, 1704; New Bern, 1710; Edenton, 1715; Beaufort, 1722; & Brunswick, 1725. In 1712, North & South Carolina were separated & Edward Hyde became the first governor of North Carolina. Historians do not know of the relationship of Governor Hyde to Edward Hyde the proprietor who was already deceased. The population of North Carolina at the end of the Proprietary period was thirty thousand whites & six thousand slaves. There were several reasons, too numerous to discuss here, for the slow growth of North Carolina during this period. By 1786 the population had reached three hundred & fifty thousand. When the Earl of Craven died in 1697, the other seven proprietors were already deceased. The Earl of Clarendon (died 1674) was to become the grandfather of Queen Mary & Queen Anne of England. In 1729 the Crown bought the shares of the heirs of seven of the Lord's Proprietors. The Sir George Carteret share was not sold. It was inherited in 1680 by Sir George Carteret, a grandson of the first Sir George. In 1695 it was inherited by his son, John Carteret, the Earl of Granville & in 1763, to his son, Robert Carteret, the Earl of Granville. This share embraced a strip of the northern part of North Carolina adjoining the Virginia line. By the time of the American Revolution, most of this land had been already sold to settlers. North Carolina was a Royal Colony from 1729-1776. (References: "The Proprietors of Carolina" by William S. Powell; "The History of a Southern State, N.C." by Newsome & Lefler; & "North Carolina, Rebuilding An Ancient Commonwealth" by R. W. D. 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