thearof to each of them yett the sayd Leak contrary to his owne acte by the procurement of some Knightes yor petitioner's neighbours themselves disdayning the said dignity and yet envying others soe dignifyed did exhibitt and prosecute a suite in the Cort of Chivalry against yor petitioner for a supposed undue procuring of the said Certificate from the sayd Herrolds and for the bearing of the sayd Armes and also for the Quartering of some other armes In which suite yor pet' conceaving some hard measure to be offred him and also for that he legaly tendring into the sayd Cort certaine pleas and exhibites the same were disallowed thearuppon yor pet' by the advise of his Councell did appeale from the said Cort according to the ancient presidentes thearof unto yor Matie in yor highnes Cort of Chauncery, and exhibited his peticion unto the Right hoble the Lord Keeper for a Comission of Appeale The consideration of which petition the Lord Keeper referred unto yor Highnes Attorney and Solicitor who uppon long serch of recordes and presidentes in the Tower made theyr Certificat unto the Lord Keeper for the approving of the said appeale to be just and lawfull but the same is not yet granted depending which appeale the sayd Leake did exhibit a scandelous peticion unto the sayd Lord Keeper to impugne the granting of the said Comission of appeale for which his Lordship severely reproving him as may appeare by the Answere unto the said peticion yet the sayd Leake before the validity of the said appeale was decided (being a president for future ages) and also well knowing that yf yor petitioner his Councell or Proctor did appeare or speak in the said cause in the Cort of Chivalry during the tyme of the sayd appeale that then he should utterly overthrowe the same and loose the benifitt thearof did notwithstanding proceede in the sayd Cort of Chivalry and procured a sentence in the sayd Cort of Chivalry by default against yor pet who cold not appeare or make any defence thearunto howbeit yor pet' doth not doubt but to make sufficient proof of his gentry whensoever he shall be legally called thearunto both by Charters of yor highnes ancestors and diverse deeds records and Cort Rolles from the 13 of Edward the 4th as also by severall bookes in the office of armes all which were truly drawne out and extracted by the 3 Kings and sixe others

of the officers of armes as may appear by yor petrs pedegree ready to be shewed and subscry bed by them under their handes which they are ready to justify and mainteyne to be good and sufficient either before yor Maties or any others indifferent judges whom yor Matie shall please to nominate or appoint.

"Thearfore yor petitioners humble suite unto yor Matie is that yor Matie wold be pleased to suffer the Lord Keeper to graunt the sayd Comission of appeale according to the sayd Certificat of yor highnes Attorney and sollicitor in that behalfe made whearby yor pet' may reverse the said sentence pronounced against him in the sayd suite against him by the sayd Leak. In which suite uppon full opening thearof as yor pet' is assured by his Councell yor petrs gentry will not come in question although yor pet' will endeavour the same And yor pet' as in duty bound shall ever pray for yor excellent Matie.

(Endorsed) R. 27° Martii 1625. A Draught of Mr. Harris pet" to his Matie concerning the busines between him & Capt. Leake.'

As a result the Baronetcy remained in the family, Sir Thomas transmitting the honour to his son and heir, Sir Paul, who served the office of High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1637. The Baronetcy became extinct in 1685.

The dispute over the creation of this Baronetcy is a further proof, if any were needed, of the social position demanded of those on whom the dignity was conferred, and how shocked were the feelings of the age when it imagined that it had been given to a person not possessed of the essential attributes of a gentleman by birth; namely, the being descended at the least from a grandfather who bore hereditary coat armour, as well as being the owner of a considerable income derived from his own broad acres.

The Baronetage received a great accession to its numbers from Charles II., which was only natural, considering the events which had taken place between the death of his royal father and his own restoration. About this time the payment of the fees, commonly called the Ulster fees, and other charges necessarily incident to the passing of Patents began to cease. In many instances the heads of some of the most distinguished families in the kingdom received the degree as a reward for the losses and sufferings they had gone through and for their services rendered during the rebellion. This remission of fees was made by special warrant from the King, expressed in honourable terms. The warrant was issued by the King, directed to the Treasurer, Chancellor, Under-Treasurer, and Barons of the Exchequer, to cause a tally to be struck in the Exchequer purporting the payment thereof (the ancient form being still retained in the Patent) as if it had actually been paid, and then the officials had their quietus out of the Exchequer for the same.

CHAPTER IV

THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE OF

SCOTLAND AND NOVA SCOTIA

On the 5th March 1496, John Caboto, a Venetian resident in Bristol, and his three sons obtained from Henry VII. letters patent for a voyage of discovery, as a result of which they reached the Island of Newfoundland on the 24th June 1497. Nearly a century later, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, under a patent granted by Queen Elizabeth, took possession of Newfoundland; and various settlements were subsequently attempted.

Early in 1621, Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, Viscount, and afterwards Earl of Stirling, who followed James the Sixth of Scotland to London, and who, after holding various offices, had been made Master of Requests for Scotland, became interested in the English settlements in Virginia or New England, and resolved to embark in colonial adventure on his own account.

He accordingly obtained from James 1. the grant of a large and extensive territory on the mainland, to the east of the river St. Croix, and south of the St. Lawrence, lying between our Colonies of New England and Newfoundland' as a foreign plantation.

On the 5th August 1621, the King addressed a letter

from Beauvoir on this subject to the Lord Chancellor and the other members of the Privy Council of Scotland, and accordingly the Royal Warrant or signature for a Charter was prepared and signed by the King at Windsor on the 10th September 1621, and on the 29th of the same month the Charter under the Great Seal was duly passed and registered.

In this Charter Sir William Alexander had almost unlimited privileges and liberties conferred on him as the King's hereditary Lieutenant-General, the lands of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward's Island, Gaspe, Anticosti, and all the adjacent islands being erected into one whole and free lordship and regality in favour of Sir William.

A similar Charter was granted on the 8th November 1621 to Sir Robert Gordon of Lochinvar and his second son Robert, with the view of promoting colonisation.

Late in 1622, Sir William Alexander, after considerable trouble in persuading suitable persons to set out for unknown lands, came within sight of the shore near Cape Breton; but owing to storms, some of the company passed the winter in St. John's Harbour, Newfoundland, sending the vessel home for new supplies. The following year no better success was obtained, and the proposed establishment of a Colony was postponed, and the company returned to England.

The following year Sir William Alexander published a tract called 'An Encouragement to Colonies,' which, in 1630, six years later, was reissued under the title of 'The