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Early Settlement.

Although Brackley was among the earliest settlements of the Island, its history dates only to the early 1700’s. To appreciate fully the history of this small community, a brief look at the overall development of the Island

proper is warranted.

By the Treaty of Fontainbleau in I763, P.E.|. was formally ceded to Great Britain and for the time was placed under the government of Nova Scotia. In the following year, Captain Samuel Holland was appointed by the British government to make a survey of the British possessions in North America. He arrived in P.E.I. in October 1764 and immediately began operations. Within a year from that date his work on the Island was complete and the British were furnished with a very full and accurate

description of P.E.I.

According to the survey made by Captain Holland the entire Island was divided into sixty-seven townships of about twenty thousand acres each. It was decided to bestow these lots by grant on persons having claims for military service, but with very few exceptions, the whole Island was given away to favorites of the Crown. In adiusting the aforementioned claims it was found that the number of applicants far exceeded the amount of land to be disposed of. The authorities then hit upon the novel plan of setting up the land by lottery, whereby the holders of the lucky numbers became proprietors. In this fashion, the entire Island was disposed of in one day. From such circumstances, the name ”lots” has been applied ever of— terwards. Lot 33, extending from Rustico Bay and Covehead on the North shore, to Charlottetown Royalty on the South shore, was the prize of Richard Worge, late Colonel of England. His grant was issued through Lord Campbell, the Governor of Nova Scotia.

Each proprietor was obliged to settle his township at the rate of one person to every two hundred acres of his land within ten years from the date of his grant. To the great detriment of the colony the proprietors, almost to a man, neglected to fulfill their obligations. Each proprietor was also bound to pay the Crown yearly, a certain rate per one hundred acres of land. Three rates of quit rent were fixed upon to correspond with the estimates then made of the estates. Six shillings per twenty-six acres were charged on Lot 33. Such a system amounted to the earliest classification of

the lands of P.E.I.

Late in I767, the proprietor of Lot 33 became Thomas DesBrisay, the Lt. Governor of P.E.I. This man did much to settle what is now Brackley. In I770, he brought nine families from England to settle his lot near Charlottetown, one of whom was Mr. Brackley. However, despite its proximity to Charlottetown and the early group of settlers brought out by

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