"In the year 1761 a number of Provincial officers and soldiers in New England who had served in several campaigns during the then French war agreed to form a settlement on St. John's River in Nova Scotia, for which purpose they sent one of their number to Halifax, who obtained an order of survey for laying out a Township in mile squares on any part of St. John's River (the whole being then a desolate wilderness). This Township called Maugerville was laid out in the year 1762, and a number of settlers entered into it, encouraged by the King's proclamation for settling the lands in Nova Scotia, in which, among other things, was this clause, that people emigrating from the New England Provinces to Nova Scotia should enjoy the same religious privileges as in New England. And in the above-mentioned order of survey was the following words--viz., 'You shall reserve four Lots in the Township for Publick use, one as a Glebe for the Church of England, one for the Dissenting Protestants, one for the maintenance of a School, and one for the first settled minister in the place.' "These orders were strictly comply'd with, but finding difficulty in obtaining a Grant of this Township from the government of Nova Scotia on account of an order from England that those lands should be reserved for disbanded forces, the settlers did in the year 1763 draw up and forward a Petition or memorial to the Lords of Trade and Plantations."... In this memorial were set forth the services that Captain Peabody and his associates had rendered to their country in the late war, the expenses they had incurred and the inducements offered by the government of Nova Scotia to them to settle on the lands they had surveyed. The memorial was signed by Francis Peabody, John Carleton, Jacob Barker, Nicholas West and Israel Perley on behalf of themselves and other disbanded officers. This memorial was submitted by Mr. Peabody to the Governor and Council at Halifax, who cordially approved of the contents and forwarded it to Joshua Mauger,[54] the agent for the Province in London, expressing their opinion that the officers and disbanded soldiers from New England, settled on the reserved lands on the St. John River, ought not to be removed. They would be of great use and their removal would cause their total ruin. The settlers earnestly solicited the influence of the agent in England to obtain a speedy answer to their memorial. He took the liveliest interest in their cause and largely through his efforts the Lords of Trade on the 20th December, 1763, recommended that the memorial of the disbanded officers of the Provincial forces be granted, and that they be confirmed in possession of the lands on which they have settled on the St. John River. The matter was finally settled in the Court of St. James, the 10th day of February, 1764, by the adoption of the following resolve on the part of King George the III. and his Council: