Trelawny Black Point Deed, 1631 Item Contributed by Maine
Historical Society European monarchs granted various portions of
the Americas to explorers and settlers, who then parceled out
land to their countrymen for settlement and control of natural
resources. This deed grants to Robert Trelawny land in the area
of Scarborough. It is signed by Ferdinando Gorges and his
brother Edmund. Trelawny operated a fishery in the Richmond
Island area. Gorges (1565–1647) founded the Province of Maine in
1622, operating from England with assistants in Maine. Gorges
was one of the backers of George Weymouth's explorations at the
Kennebec River in 1605 and the Popham Colony experiment in 1607.
He had a royal grant for all of New England, but could not carry
out his plans to develop it because Plymouth and Massachusetts
Bay colonies received their own charters. He received the
charter for Maine in 1639, but also failed to develop the area
as planned.