On 23 June 1767, Prince Edward Island's 67 townships were distributed by lot to some 100 individuals with claims on the Crown's largess. Ever since, the history of our land has been the history of our Island and its people. No student of Island history can ignore the part the land and the accompanying "Land Question" have played in our public history. But not everyone realizes that the study of a small, individual parcel of land — say, 50 acres on Lot 21 or Town Lot #F-12 Third Range in Georgetown — can add essential details to the history of one's own family. If sought out, the Island's land records can contribute immeasurably to the story of our ancestors, supplying names, dates, and details that, for the most part, are available nowhere else.
Appears in the Island Magazine, No. 25, Spring Summer1989