An illustration of the Province of Maryland, which was founded as a proprietary colony
Proprietary colonies were a type of colony in English America which existed during the early modern period. In English overseas possessions established from the 17th century onwards, all land in the colonies belonged to the Crown, which held ultimate authority over their management. All English colonies were divided by the Crown via royal charters into one of three types of colony; proprietary colonies, charter colonies and Crown colonies. Under the proprietary system, individuals or companies (often joint-stock companies), known as proprietors, were granted commercial charters by the Crown to establish overseas colonies. These proprietors were then granted the authority to select the governors and other officials in the colony.
This type of indirect rule eventually fell out of favour in the English colonial empire due to a variety of reasons, including the gradual sociopolitical stabilisation of England's American colonies, the easing of bureaucratic difficulties in managing the colonies and increasing economic or administrative difficulties faced by proprietors. Successive English sovereigns sought to solidify their power and authority throughout the empire, and gradually converted all proprietary colonies to Crown colonies, which were administered by officials directly appointed by the Crown. By the 18th century, most former proprietary colonies had been converted into Crown colonies.
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Proprietary colonies were a type of colony in English America which existed during the early modern period. In English overseas possessions established...
English rule after the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in 1664, becoming a proprietarycolony. The English renamed the province after the island of Jersey in the...
On January 2, 1755, Georgia officially ceased to be a proprietarycolony and became a royal colony. From 1732 until 1758, the minor civil divisions were...
were granted to a particular individual; these were known as proprietary colonies. Proprietary colonies in America were governed by a Lord Proprietor, who...
1632 as a proprietarycolony granted to Cecil Calvert, the English 2nd Baron Baltimore, whose father, George, had long sought to found a colony in the New...
established in 1681 as a proprietarycolonyColony of Virginia, established in 1607 as a proprietarycolony; chartered as a royal colony in 1624. Province of...
Pennsylvania was one of the two major Restoration colonies. The proprietarycolony's charter remained in the Penn family until they were later ousted...
The Delaware Colony, officially known as the three "Lower Counties on the Delaware", was a semiautonomous region of the proprietary Province of Pennsylvania...
and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary". In the beginning of the European...
The Province of New York was a British proprietarycolony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. In 1664...
Carolina, originally known as Albemarle Province, was a proprietarycolony and later royal colony of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712...
English colonies in North America, the other classes being proprietarycolony and royal colony. These colonies were operated under a corporate charter given...
America included Connecticut Colony, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of New...
the lords proprietor; they planned for a Christian colony. Originally a single proprietarycolony, the northern and southern sections grew apart over...
a proprietary in Virginia (a claim that would only be valid were the king to return to power). While under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Colony, the...
alliances between the colony's various ethnic, religious, proprietary, and landowning groups. During this period, the population of the colony began to expand...
been a state, since they served as the capital of a predecessor territory, colony, or republic. Boston, Massachusetts, has been a capital city since 1630;...
to the land, but Charles II ruled the claim invalid. Although the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island was the first English attempt at settlement in the Carolina...
The Transylvania Company investors hoped to establish a British proprietarycolony by purchasing the Kentucky lands from the Cherokee who had earlier...
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the...
Maryland began as a proprietarycolony of the Catholic Calvert family, the Lords Baltimore under a royal charter, and its first eight governors were appointed...
The Province of Maryland was a proprietarycolony, in the hands of the Calvert family, who held it from 1633 to 1689, and again from 1715 to 1776. George...
regarded Rupert's Land as their proprietarycolony. In 1670, King Charles II of England in his grant creating the proprietarycolony Rupert's Land defined its...
and East Jersey were two sections of New Jersey. The development of the colony of New Sweden in the lower Delaware Valley began in 1638. Most of the Swedish...
Pennsylvania was a proto-constitution for the Province of Pennsylvania, a proprietarycolony granted to William Penn by Charles II of England. The Frame of Government...
Proprietary House in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States, is the only proprietary governor's mansion of the original Thirteen Colonies still standing...
his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II of England) as a proprietarycolony. James II later granted the land between the Hudson River and the...
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