ing, as in the said act is mentioned: In which said act, the port for the county of York, was appointed to be upon Benjamin Read's land, beginning at the lower side of Smith's creek, and so running downwards, by the said river, to the ferry. And whereas, the justices of the said county of York, in pursuance of the said act, did direct Lawrence Smith, then surveyor of the said county, to survey and lay out fifty acres of land, at the place before-mentioned; and the said Lawrence Smith accordingly made a survey of fifty acres of land at the said place, leaving out several small parcels or points of land next the river, unfit for habitation, and, at that time, of little value; which are mentioned in the plan of the said survey, returned by the said Lawrence Smith, to the clerk's office of the said county, and there recorded, to be laid off for a common shoar: After which survey, the said justices agreed with the aforesaid Benjamin Read, for the purchase of the said land; and he, by deed of feoffment, bearing date the eighteenth day of August, in the year of our lord one thousand six hundred and ninety one, in consideration of ten thousand pounds of tobacco, conveyed to Joseph Ring, and Thomas Ballard feoffees, appointed by the said justices for that purpose, the premises aforesaid, by the name of all that fifty acres of land, be the same more or less, surveyed by colonel Lawrence Smith, and bounded, as in the said deed is described; together with all and singular the ways, waters, easements, passages, profits, commons, commodities, and appurtenances, to the same belonging, as by the said plan and deed more fully appears. And whereas, after making the said deed, that is to say, in the fifth year of the reign of their said Jate majesties, an act of assembly was made, whereby the said first mentioned act was suspended, 'til their majesties pleasure should be known, and by one act of assembly, made in the fourth year of the reign of the late queen Anne, intituled, An Act, for confirming Titles to Town Lands, reciting, that the said first mentioned act stood suspended; and that pursuant to the said act, divers tracts of land had been purchased, and laid out, for ports and towns, and vested in trustees, many of which had convey'd lots, or half acres, to several persons, who had built thereon, and made considerable improvements; it was and is enacted, That where any county or counties have purchased, laid out,

and paid for, any lands, for ports or towns, pursuant to the said acts for ports, or to any other act of assembly, and have vested the same in trustees, according to the said act or act, such fcoffees or trustees, so invested, are declared to have a good, absolute, and indefeasible estate in fee, in such lands, respectively; in trust, to and for the uses in the said act, for ports, mentioned, as in the said act more fully is contained. And whereas the feoffees of the said land, so-conveied, by the said Benjamin Read, have, from time to time, granted and conveied all the lots, or half acres, within the bounds of the survey before mentioned, to sundry persons, who have built houses and made improvements upon the same, and the said place has for a long time been settled and inhabited, as a town, and has obtained the name of The Town of York, and from the time of the first settlement there, the inhabitants of the said town, have always used and enjoyed the aforesaid small parcels or points of land, herein before mentioned, to be left out of the survey of the said fifty acres, as and for a common, without any disturbance, or molestation, from the said Benjamin Read, who lived above forty years after the making the deed herein before recited and mentioned: But since his death, Gwyn Read, of the county of Glocester, gentleman, eldest son and heir of the said Benjamin, pretends and sets up a title to the same, alledging, that his father was only tenant in tail, of the premises, and could sell and convey no more than fifty acres. And whereas it is plain, from the words of the said act for ports, as well as from the general policy and design thereof, that the fifty acres of land, thereby directed to be surveyed and laid out for a port and town for the said county of York, ought to have been laid off next and adjoining to the river; and it will be a manifest prejudice to the inhabitants of the said town of York, and to the trade and navigation of the same, and will discourage people from settling and inhabiting there, if the said small parcels or points of land, next the river, are not preserved, continued and kept, for the use of the said town, and as a part thereof, in the manner the same have always hitherto been. And whereas it may be questioned, whether the said Gwyn Read has any good right or title to the said parcels or points of land, forasmuch as it was the intention of the said Benjamin Read to pass and convey the same, by the deed herein before mentioned; neverthe

less, for preventing controversies and disputes, the inhabitants of the said. town are willing to pay the said Gwyn Read a reasonable consideration for the same: Therefore, for removing all doubts and controversies hereafter, concerning the premises,

. II. Be it enacted, by the Lieutenant Governor, 'Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That all the land lying between the said fifty acres of land before mentioned, to be surveyed by the said Lawrence Smith, and the low water mark of York river, opposite to the said fifty acres, be, and is hereby vested in Lawrence Smith, and Thomas Nelson, gentlemen, the present feoffees of the said town of York, in fee simple, in as full and ample manner, to all intents and purposes, as if the said land had been actually included in the survey of the said fifty acres: And that the same shall be, and is hereby declared to be and remain, as and for a common, for the use of the inhabitants of the said town, from henceforth, for ever.

III. Provided always, That the said feoffees do, and shall, on or before the first day of March next, pay, or cause to be paid to the said Gwyn Read, his executors, or administrators, the sum of one hundred pounds; which is hereby declared to be in full satisfaction for all right or title, which he the said Gwyn Read may have, or pretend to claim, in or to the said premises.

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the justices of the county of York, shall be, and are hereby impowered, some time before the said first day of March, to levy the said sum of one hundred pounds, together with the charges of obtaining this act, upon the inhabitants of the said town, and owners of lots there; and to rate and assess the same upon the said inhabitants and owners, in such proportion as they shall think proper, having regard to the value of the lots, without the improvements: And in case any person shall refuse to pay such assessment, to cause the same to be levied upon the estate of the person so refusing; and where any such inhabitant is tenant to another person, the landlord shall allow such assessment out of the next year's rent.

V. Saving to the king's most excellent majesty, his heirs and successors, and to all and every person and persons, bodies politic and corporate, their respective

heirs and successors, except the said Gwyn Read, and all others claiming under him, or under the last will and testament of George Read, esquire,deceased,grandfather of the said Gwyn Read, all such right, title, interest, claim, and demand, as they, every, or any of them, should or might claim, if this act had never been made.

CHAP. XIX.

An Act, for the relief of those persons who were sufferers in the loss of the Records of the County of Nansemond, whose cases have not been already provided for.

I. WHEREAS, it was enacted, by one clause of the act, made at the last session of the general assembly, For the relief of certain persons who were sufferers in the loss of the Records of the County of Nansemond, that to the end, other persons, who had not then been able to produce witnesses before the commissioners appointed by a commission issued under the great seal of the colony, pursuant to the act of assembly made in the eighth year of his majesty's reign, intituled, An Act, for the relief of such persons as have suffered; or may suffer, by the loss of the records of Nansemond County, lately consumed by fire, in relation to their deeds and other evidences, which may have been lost among the records of the said county, one other or more commissions should and might be issued and continued by the governor and commander in chief of this colony, for the time being, for examining other witnesses, and perpetuating the testimony thereof, in relation to all deeds, wills, inventories, or other writings, recorded in the said county court, where the original has been lost, pursuant to the last mentioned act of assembly, to be executed and returned, as in the said act is directed. And whereas, pursuant thereto, a commission bath issued, under the great seal of the colony, bearing date at Williamsburg, the twenty seventh day of October, in the tenth year of his said majesty's reign, to William Wright, and eleven others, directed, who have made a return of their proceedings in the premises, whereby it doth appear, that they have

examined divers witnesses to sundry deeds, and other matters, and that the several deeds, and other matters, mentioned in a schedule to this act annexed, have been well and sufficiently proved: Therefore for making the same more effectual,

II. Be it enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Couneil, and Burgesses of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from henceforth, the proofs of the several possessions, purchases, deeds, and wills, in the said schedule mentioned, shall and may be given, in evidence, in any court of law, or equity; and shall avail for the benefit and advantage of all persons claiming under them, as much as the same can or ought to avail. And to the end, that those persons who have not yet been able to produce witnesses before the said commissioners, in relation to their deeds and other evidences, which have been lost among the records of the said county, may be relieved.

III. Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That one other or more commissions shall and may be issued and continued by the governor, and commander in chief, of this colony, for the time being, for examining other witnesses, and perpetuating the testimony thereof, in relation to all deeds, wills, inventories, or other writings, recorded in the said county court, where the original has been lost, pursuant to the act of assembly made in the eighth year of his majesty's reign; to be executed and returned, as in the said act is directed.

A schedule, containing the proofs of several deeds, and other matters, made before certain commissioners, by virtue of a commission, under the seal of the colony of Virginia, bearing date the twenty seventh day of October, in the tenth year of his majesty's reign, pursuant to an act of assembly in that case made and provided. William Cadawgon, by deed proved and recorded, in Anno 1675. Nansemond county court, sold and conveyed unto John Brothers, the elder, a parcel of land, on the south side of the western branch of Nansemond river, containing one hundred acres, or thereabouts; and the said John Brothers, by his last will and testament, which was likewise proved and recorded in the said county court, some time in the year 1692, gave the said land to his son John Brothers, and his heirs, for ever: And the said John Brothers, the son, dying without will, leaving three children, who all died under the age of twenty K-Vol. 5.