On March 12, 1664, Charles II. granted to his brother James, duke of York, all the lands between the Connecticut river and the eastern side of Delaware bay, as well as all the islands between Cape Cod and the Hudson river. An expedition was sent from England in May, under the command of Richard Nicolls, and in the following August the English flag floated over New Amster dam. In October, Sir Robert Carr took possession of the settle ments on the Delaware, and terminated the rule of the Dutch. The few inhabitants of what is now New Jersey acquiesced in the new order. While the expedition commanded by Nicolls was still at sea, the duke of York, by deeds of lease and release, trans ferred to Lord John Berkeley, baron of Stratton and Sir George Carteret (q.v.), all that part of his new possessions extending eastward from the Delaware bay and river to the Atlantic ocean and the Hudson river, and northward from Cape May to a line drawn from the northernmost branch of the Delaware, "which is 40' lat.," to the Hudson river in N. latitude. To this tract the name of Nova Caesarea, or New Jersey, was given in honour of Carteret, who governed the isle of Jersey in 1643-51. In order to attract immigrants, the proprietors in Feb. /665 pub lished their "Concession and Agreement," by which they made provision for a governor, a governor's council, and an assembly chosen by the freemen and having the power to levy taxes. Special inducements in the way of land grants were offered to persons embarking with the first governor. In the meantime Gov ernor Nicolls of New York, ignorant of the grant to Berkeley and Carteret, had approved certain Indian sales of land to settlers within New Jersey, and had confirmed their titles to tracts in what became known as Elizabethtown, Middletown and Shrews bury. In 1669 trouble arose between the proprietary governor and the inhabitants of the towns of Shrewsbury and Middletown over the collection of quit-rents. This caused the duke of York to declare that the grants made by Nicolls were null and void; the king enjoined obedience to the proprietors, and quiet was restored. Another change was impending, however, and in Aug. 1673, when a Dutch fleet appeared off Staten Island, New Jersey for a second time became a part of New Netherland. The period of Dutch rule was short, and by the Treaty of Westminster, of Feb. 9, 1674, the territory was restored to England. The Crown lawyers decided that the rights of the proprietors of New York and New Jersey had been extinguished by the conquest, and that by treaty the lands had been reconveyed, not to the proprietors, but to the king. On June 13, 1674, Charles II. accordingly wrote a letter confirming the title and power of Carteret in the eastern half of New Jersey. No similar grant was made to Berkeley, as on March 18 he had sold his interest in the province to John Fen wicke, sometime major in the parliamentary army and later a member of the Society of Friends, and Edward Byllynge (d. 1687), a Quaker merchant. Financial embarrassments soon caused Byllynge to assign his share in trust for his creditors to three Quakers, William Penn, Gawen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas. Later they acquired Fenwicke's share also. The Quakers then set about seeking a division of the province more to their ad vantage and, Sir George Carteret having been persuaded by the duke of York to surrender his grant of July 1674, the so-called "quintipartite deed" was executed on July 1, 1676. This instru ment defined the interests of Carteret, Penn, Lawrie, Lucas and Byllynge, by fixing a line of partition from Little Egg harbour to a point on the Delaware river, in 45° 40' N., and by assigning the province east of this line (East Jersey) to Carteret and the province west of this line (West Jersey), about five-eighths of the whole, to the Quaker associates.
A very liberal frame of Government for West Jersey, drafted presumably by William Penn, and entitled "the Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders and Inhabitants of West Jersey in America," was adopted in March 1677. This
vested the principal powers of Government in an assembly of loo members, who were to be chosen annually and to be subject to in structions from their constituents. Religious toleration was assured. In Aug. 1677 the ship "Kent" arrived in the Delaware, with 230 Quakers from London and Yorkshire. These founded a settlement, which became the modern Burlington, and in the next few months several hundred more colonists arrived. But the new colony was never actually governed under "the Conces sions and Agreements"; for when in 168o the duke of York con firmed the title to the land to Byllynge and his associates he con veyed the right to govern to Byllynge alone. Although he was one of the signers of the "Concessions and Agreements," Byllynge now commissioned Samuel Jennings as governor of the province, and the other proprietors acquiesced, appointing Byllynge gov ernor and permitting Jennings to serve as his deputy. Jennings immediately called the first assembly, and this body passed a body of fundamental laws providing for a governor and council.
The death of Sir George Carteret in 168o gave the zealous Andros another chance to lay claim to jurisdiction over New Jer sey. On April 30, 168o, a detachment of troops dragged Philip Carteret, the governor of East Jersey, from his bed and carried him prisoner to New York. Here he was confined for four weeks, and was released only on his promise not to exercise any author ity until the matter could be referred to England for adjudication. When the assembly of East Jersey met in June, Andros appeared before it as governor and recommended such measures as he deemed advisable, but the deputies refused to pass them. In Eng land, too, his conduct was disavowed and he was called home to answer charges that had been preferred against him. Sir George Carteret had bequeathed his province to eight trustees, who were to administer it for the benefit of his creditors. Early in 1682, after several unsuccessful attempts to effect a sale by other means, the province was offered for sale at public auction, and was pur chased by William Penn and 1 1 associates for £3,400. Later each of these 12 sold one-half of his share to another associate, thus making 24 proprietors; and on March 14 the duke of York confirmed the sale, and gave them all the powers necessary for governing the province. The Government of the 24 proprietors was liberal. Recognizing the necessity of some one in the prov ince with full power "to do all things that may contribute to the good and advancement of the same," they directed the appoint ment of the American Board of Proprietors—a body of men identified with the province, who with the deputy-governor were to look after the proprietary interests in such matters as the approval of legislation and the granting of lands, and thereby prevent the delay caused by the transmission of such matters to England for approval. In 1686 Perth Amboy, the newly created port of East Jersey, became its seat of Government.
After his accession to the throne in 1685, James H. showed an unyielding determination to annul the privileges of the colonies, and to unite New York, New Jersey and the New England colonies under a single Government. In order, therefore, to save their rights in the soil, the proprietors of East and West Jersey surrendered their claims to jurisdiction. Andros, previously appointed viceroy of New England, thereupon received a new commission extending his authority over New York and the Jerseys, and in Aug. 1688 he formally annexed these provinces to the dominion of New England. The seizure of Andros by the people of Boston in April 1689, following the news of the revolt in England against James II., gave the Jersey proprietors an opportunity to resume their rights.