The Birth of Carleton County, New Brunswick
Explanation   Summary   Appointments   Links & Documents   References

Explanation

    Different sources give different years for the date on which Carleton County, New Brunswick was created. These range from 1831 to 1833. The reason for the confusion is that the legislation establishing the county did not come into effect until some time after it had been passed. I shall attempt to explain this in more detail on this page.

    The act to create Carleton County, An Act for the Division of the County of York into Two Counties, and to provide for the Government and Representation of the new County (1 Wm. IV, c. 50), was passed by the New Brunswick Assembly on March 31, 1831. It was not printed with the other acts of 1831, however, because it contained a clause, Section 9, that suspended its operation as  follows:

IX. And be it further enacted, That the said new County shall not be deemed to be erected and established until the Commissions shall be issued for erecting the said Courts of Justice, and appointing the several Justices and other Officers for the said new County, and the same be notified by Proclamation of the Governor or Commander in Chief for the Time being : provided always, that this Act shall not be in Force until His Majesty's Royal Approbation be thereunto had and declared.
    The final sentence was particularly important, since it meant that the county would not exist until the British Government had approved the act. The act, along with another suspended act, was finally printed in the Royal Gazette (Fredericton, N. B.) on September 19, 1832 with the following note:
His Majesty in Council having, on the 30th day of May 1832, been pleased to confirm and finally enact the two following Acts of the General Assembly of this Province, the same are published for the information of all concerned.
The notice and the acts were printed again in the next edition of the paper, on September 26. The act was finally printed in the annual volume of acts for 1833 (pp. 183-187) with the following note:
This Act was confirmed and finally enacted by an Order of the King in Council dated 30th May 1832, and published and declared in the Province on 19th September 1832.
    The acts of 1833 also contained a statute entitled An Act to divide the Parish of Kent, in the County of Carleton, into Five Towns or Parishes (3 Wm. IV, c. 17), passed March 19, 1833, which established the parishes of Wicklow, Perth, Andover, and Madawaska.
Summary
Date Event
March 31, 1831 An act (1 Wm IV, c. 50) was passed to create Carleton County from York County, but with a suspending clause.
May 30, 1832 The King-in-Council approved the act.
Sept. 19, 1832 The act and the notice of approval were published in the Royal Gazette, Fredericton.
March 19, 1833 An act (3 Wm. IV, c. 17) was passed to create the parishes of Wicklow, Perth, Andover, and Madawaska from Kent Parish.
1833 The Carleton County act of 1831 was printed along with the regular acts of 1833.
Appointments
    The Royal Gazette also carried the appointment notices of several Carleton County officials:

September 19, 1832:

Civil Appointment.
John Wentworth Winslow, Esquire, to be Sheriff of the County of Carleton.
October 10, 1832:
Civil Appointments.
John Bedell, Esq., to be Register [sic] of Deeds and Wills.
John Robinson, Esq., to be Clerk of the Peace and of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in the County of Carleton.
October 17, 1832:
Civil Appointment.
Bartholomew Crannell Beardsley, Esq. to be Surrogate and Judge of Probate in the County of Carleton.
Links and Documents


References

Return to the Counties and Parishes of New Brunswick Site.

This page was prepared by Craig Walsh.
First Posted 20 May 2001.