quitrents in arrears in order to force the return of
unused land to be patented by others who would actually occupy and
cultivate the vacant areas. Improvements were made in the sale of
tobacco received as quitrents, and the rent roll of 1704/05 was an
improvement over previous ones. Yet many loopholes still existed in the
system, and Nicholson's attempts to make further reforms were hindered
by the arguments that ensued with leading Councilors. His second term as
executive for Virginia came to an end in 1705.

CHAPTER FIVE

The Northern Neck

Before completing this study of seventeenth-century land grants, a brief
analysis will be made of the nature of the land system in the Northern
Neck with some attention given to the major ways in which it differed
from the remainder of Virginia. The included area reached from the
Potomac River south to the Rappahannock River and from the headwaters of
these two streams in the western part of the colony to Chesapeake Bay.

The separate provision for the area went back to the days of exile in
France of Charles II following the execution of Charles I in 1649. As a
reward to those cavaliers who had been faithful to the Stuart regime,
Charles II exercised his royal prerogative by making a grant of the
portions of tidewater Virginia that were not seated. In the year of the
execution the Northern Neck was granted to the following seven
supporters of the King: Lord John Culpeper, Lord Ralph Horton, Lord
Henry Jermyn, Sir John Berkeley, Sir William Morton, Sir Dudley Wyatt,
and Thomas Culpeper. Efforts of the representatives of this group were
frustrated in Virginia by the suspension of royal government, and
therefore the proprietary charter was ineffective for a time. It had,
however, been recorded in chancery in 1649 and was revived after the
restoration of Charles II to the throne. In 1662 and again in 1663
Charles II ordered the Governor and Council of Virginia to assist the
proprietors in "settling the plantations and receiving the rents and
profits thereof." But portions of the area had been seated since 1645,
and legal obstructions were brought forth by Virginia planters and the
Council to defeat the efforts of the proprietors.

A second appeal to the King led to a solution maneuvered in part by the
Virginia resident agent in London, Francis Moryson. The original patent
of 1649 was surrendered and a new charter was issued on May 8, 1669, to
the Earl of St. Albans, Lord