ain conditions; one of these was
that whenever the seigniory changed hands the act of "faith and
homage" was to be tendered at the Castle of St. Louis in Quebec. The
tendering of faith and homage was quite an elaborate ceremony, in
which the owner of the land, divesting himself of arms and spurs, with
bared head, on bended knee, repeated before the governor, as
representative of the sovereign, his acknowledgement of faith and
homage to the crown. Provision was made in all seignioral grants for
the reservation of oaks for the royal navy, of lands required for
fortifications or highways, and of all mines and minerals; the
seignior was also required to reside on his land or to place a certain
number of tenants thereon and to clear and improve a certain portion
within a stated time. From the year 1672 to the close of the century
as many as 16 seigniories were granted on the St. John river, besides
others in various parts of New Brunswick. The first in order of time
was that to Martin d'Arpentigny Sieur de Martignon. It included a
large tract at the mouth of the River St. John, on the west side of
the harbor, extending six leagues up the river from Partridge Island
(Isle de la Perdrix) and six leagues in depth inland. This seigniory
would now include Carleton and the parishes of Lancaster, Musquash and
Westfield. The owner of this valuable property is described as "an old
inhabitant of Acadia." He married Jeanne de la Tour, only daughter of
Charles la Tour by his first wife: she was born in Acadia in 1626. It
is stated in his grant that he intended to bring over people from
France to settle his seigniory, also that he was a proprietor of lands
on the River St. John "from the River de Maquo to the mines of the
said country of Acadia."[3]

[3] Dr. Ganong is probably correct in identifying the "River de
Maquo" with Maquapit and the "mines" with the coal mines at
Newcastle in Queens county. In this case the sieur de
Martignon owned the lands on the north side of Grand Lake
including the site of the old Indian village at Indian point
where so any relics have been discovered. It is quite possible
that the sieur de Martignon and his wife, Jeanne de la Tour,
may have lived there for a time.

After la Tour's death his son-in-law, the Sieur de Mantignon,
seems to have taken up his abode at the old fort on the west side of
the harbor, which in Franquet's map of 1707 is calle