from and after the passing of this act, be, and are hereby vested and settled in the present minister, wardens, and vestry, and the minister, wardens, and vestry of the said parish of Blisland, for the time being in trust. Nevertheless that the said minister, wardens, and vestry, or the greater part of the vestry, by bargain and sale, or other deed or deeds, convey the said plantation and land, with the appurtenances, for a valuable consideration of money, bona fide received, to such person or persons as shall be willing to purchase the same, to hold to such purchaser or purchasers, his or their heirs and assigns for ever, and the money arising by such sale, shall be by the said minister, wardens, and vestry, laid out and applied towards purchasing communion plate and ornaments for the lower church in the said parish of Blisland.

II. Saving to the king's most excellent majesty, his heirs and successors, and to all and every other person or persons, bodies politic and corporate, their respective heirs and successors, other than the minister, wardens, and vestry of the said parish, all such right, title, estate, interest, claim and demand, as they, every, or any of them, should or might have had or claimed to the said plantation and land, if this act had never been made.

Edi. 1769. pa. 317.

CHAP. XXII.

An Act for clearing Mattapony river.

I. WHEREAS the upper part of the river Mattapony is useless to the inhabitants of this colony, by means of fish hedges and other obstructions therein, for remedy whereof.

II. BE it enacted by the Lieutenant Governor, CounTrustees ap- cil, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, pointed for clearing Mat- and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, tapony river. That the honourable Richard Corbin, esquire, John

Robinson, esquire, Lunsford Lomax, Edmund Pendleton, Thomas Turner, Henry Robinson, John Bay

lor, and Thomas Johnson, gentlemen, be, and they are hereby appointed trustees, and they, or any four of them, are authorized, impowered and directed, to take and receive subscriptions, and to contract with any person or persons for clearing the said river. Mattapony, who shall have full power and authority to remove all stops, which they, or the said trustees, shall think, in any wise obstruct the navigation of the same, as high as Burk's bridge, in the county of Caroline.

III. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the charge of taking up and destroying any hedges and stone stops, or any part of them that shall be standing or remaining in the said river Mattapony, on the last day of July next, or at any time thereafter, shall be repaid to the said trustees, by the person or persons to whose lands the said hedges or stops shall be adjacent or nearest to. And the said

person or persons permitting them to remain as aforesaid, shall moreover be liable to the penalties imposed by the act of General Assembly made in the twenty second year of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, An act for clearing rivers and creeks.

IV. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said trustees, or any person or persons employed by them in execution of this act, to pass through, or go on shore, upon the lands of any person whatsoever, without being subject to an action. of trespass for the same: And if any suit shall be commenced for any thing done in pursuance of this act, the person or persons sued, may plead the general issue, and give this act in evidence; and every court before whom such suit shall be prosecuted where a verdict shall be found for the defendant, or the plaintiff shall be nonsuited, shall award judgment for such defendant and treble costs.

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall be lawful for the said trustees, or persons employed by them, to cut or take off the lands of any person adjacent to the said river, such, and so much timber as shall be necessary for the purposes of this act, and the same shall be viewed and valued, as is directed by an act made in the twenty second year of his majesty's reign, intituled, An act concerning highways, mill-dams, and bridges, and shall be paid for by the said trustees.

VI. And be it further enacted, That in case of the death, removal out of the country, or other legal disability of any one or more of the trustees before named, it shall be lawful for the surviving or remaining trustees, or any four of them, from time to time, to elect and choose so many other persons in the room. of those so dead or removed, as shall make up the number of eight; which trustees, so chosen, shall be vested with the same power, as any other in this act particularly named.

Colchester

CHAP. XXIII.

An Act for erecting a town on Occoquan river, in the county of Fairfax.

I. WHEREAS it hath been represented to this in Fairfax present General Assembly, that a town on Occoquan county esta- river, in the county of Fairfax, on the land of Peter Wagener, would be very convenient for trade and navigation, and greatly to the case and advantage of the frontier inhabitants.

blished.

II. BE it therefore 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 within twelve months after the passing of this act, twenty five acres of land belonging to the said Peter Wagener, situate, lying and being on Occoquan river in the county of Fairfax, shall be surveyed and laid out by the surveyor of the said county, beginning on the upper side of the ferry landing, and extending down the said river, to the land of Waugh, thence back into the said Wagener's land, in such manner as the directors and trustees hereafter named shall appoint, order and direct, so as to include twenty five acres; and the said twenty five acres of land, so to be surveyed and laid out, shall be, and is hereby vested in Peter Wagener, Daniel McCarty, John Barry, William Elzy, and Edward Washington, gentlemen, in trust, and to and for the several purposes herein after mentioned; and the said Peter Wagener,

Daniel McCarty, John Barry, William Elzy, and Edward Washington, are hereby constituted and appointed directors and trustees for designing, building, carrying on and maintaining the said town, upon the land aforesaid. And the said directors and trustees, or any three of them, shall, and they hereby have power to meet as often as they shall think necessary, and shall lay out the said twenty five acres of land, into lots and streets, not exceeding half an acre of ground in one lot; and also to set apart such portion or portions of the said land for a market place and public landing, as to them shall seem meet and most convenient. And when the said town shall be so surveyed and laid out, the said directors and trustees shall, and they hereby have full power and authority to sell all the said lots by public sale or auction, from time to time, to the highest bidder; and when such lots shall be sold, any three of the said directors and trustees, shall and may, and they are hereby impowcred and required, upon payment of the purchase money, by sufficient conveyance, or conveyances, to convey to the purchaser or purchasers of such lot or lots, the fee-simple estate and inheritance thereof, and he, she, or they, or his, her, and their heirs and assigns respectively, shall and may, for ever hereafter, peaceably and quietly have, hold, occupy, possess, and enjoy the same; freed and discharged from all right, title, claim, interest, and demand whatsoever, of the said Peter Wagener, his heirs and assigns, and of all other persons whatsoever, claiming or to claim, by, from, or under him.

III. Provided always, That the said directors and trustees, after deducting sufficient to reimburse the expence and charge of surveying and laying out the said land, shall pay, or cause to be paid to the said Peter Wagener, his heirs or assigns, all the money arising by the sale thereof.

IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the grantee or grantees of every such lot or lots, so to be sold and conveyed in the said town, shall, within two years next after the date of the conveyance of the same, erect, build, and finish on each lot so conveyed, one house of brick, stone, or wood, well framed, of the dimensions of twenty feet square, and nine feet pitch at the least, (or proportionable thereto, if such grantee shall have two or more lots

contiguous) with a brick or stone chimney, and the said directors and trustees, shall, and they hereby have full power and authority to establish such rules and orders, for the more regular and orderly placing the said houses, as to them shall seem meet. And if the owner or owners of any such lot or lots, shall fail to pursue and comply with the directions herein prescribed for the building and finishing one or more house or houses thereon, then such lot or lots upon which such house or houses shall not be so built, and finished, shall be, and the same hereby is re-invested in the said directors and trustees, and shall and may be sold and conveyed to any other person or persons whatsoever, in the manner before directed, and shall revest and be again sold, as often as the owner or owners shall fail to obey, perform. and fulfil the directions aforesaid; and the money arising by the sale of such lot or lots, as shall be revested and sold as aforesaid, shall be by the said directors and trustees, from time to time, applied to such public use, for the common benefit of the inhabitants of the said town, as to them shall seem most proper. And if the inhabitants of the said town shall fail to comply with, obey and pursue the rules and orders of the said directors and trustees, in repairing and mending the streets, landings, and public wharfs, they shall be liable and subject to the same penalties, as are by law inflicted for not repairing the highways of this colony. And for continuing the succession of the said directors and trustees, until the governor of this colony shall incorporate some other persons by letters patent under the seal of this colony, to be one body politic and corporate, to whom the government of the said town shall be committed.

V. Be it further enacted, That in case of the death of any of the said directors and trustees, or of their refusal to act, the surviving, or other directors and trustees, or the major part of them, shall, and they are hereby impowered and required to assemble, and from time to time, by instrument under their hands and seals to nominate and appoint some other person or persons being an inhabitant or freeholder of the said town, in the place of him or them so dying or refusing; which new director and trustee, or directors and trustees, so nominated and appointed. shall, from thenceforth have the same power and authority in all