every such grant.

Under these provisions of "the greate charter," it is evident that not
only was the headright grant of fifty acres per person open to
shareholders who brought settlers to the colony, but also to anyone who
had migrated to the colony at his own expense or who had financed the
expedition of other persons. Individuals paying their own transportation
were entitled to fifty acres for themselves and for every member of the
family, providing they fulfilled the residence requirement of three
years.

Governors under the company issued patents based on the headright until
dissolution by the crown in 1624. Beyond that time the status of the
headright was uncertain. The "charter" of 1618 had specified a term for
this right for seven years ending on Midsummer Day of 1625. After this
term expired, royal governors continued to honor headright claims based
on immigration, although no direct authorization for such action had
come from the crown. Therefore, the issuance of these claims after 1625
was based primarily on custom, brief as it was, until more direct
instructions were issued to Governor John Harvey in 1634 following the
proprietary grant of Maryland in 1632.

The Maryland grant enhanced the concern of the Virginia inhabitants
about their title to land, and correspondence conducted by Governor
Harvey finally brought forth a statement from the Privy Council.
Apprehension over Maryland led to assurance of the headright for
Virginia as the Privy Council issued the following dispatch of July 22,
1634, to the Governor:

We have thought fit to certify you that his Majesty of his royal
favor, and for the better encouragement of the planters there doth
let you knowe that it is not intended that the interestes which men
had settled when you were a corporation should be impeached; that
for the present they may enjoy their estates and trades with the
same freedom and privileges as they did before the recalling of
their patents: To which purpose also in pursuance of his Majesty's
gracious intention, wee doe hereby authorize you to dispose of such
proportions of lands to all those planters beeing freemen as you had
power to doe before the yeare 1625.

With this explicit royal endorsement of land patent principles followed
under the company and confirmation of the headright, Governor Harvey
modified the wording in the patents and adopted the following form
illustrated in a gra