East Jersey timeline
Prior developments
| Year | Scotland | East Jersey |
|---|---|---|
| 1660 | Restoration of the Stuart monarchy | |
| 1660-73 | English Parliament passes Navigation Acts which restrict Scots trade | |
| 1664 | England acquires New Amsterdam, renamed as 'New York'. Creation of 'Novo Caesaria', or 'New Jersey' | |
| 1666 | Pentland Rising (Covenanters) | |
| 1670 | Act against conventicles: fines & jail | |
| 1676 | Aberdeen Quakers jailed in the Tolbooth | Formal division of New Jersey into East and West. West Jersey bought by London Quakers |
| 1677 | Arrival in West Jersey of the first Quakers | |
| 1679 | Covenanters defeated at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge | |
| James, Duke of York appointed Lord High Commissioner of Scotland | ||
| 1680 | Proclamation of treason: field preaching and rebellion | |
| 1681 | Test Oath obliges office holders to prove loyalty to the Crown, increasing pressure on dissenters |
The East Jersey venture begins
| Year | Scotland | East Jersey |
|---|---|---|
| 1682 | Scots purchase shares in East Jersey from London Quakers | |
| A Brief Account of the Province of East New Jarsey issued to promote the colony | Robert Barclay appointed as (non-resident) governor; leads planning for Scottish voyages to East Jersey, promoted by Robert Barclay of Ury | |
| 1683 | Exchange of Stockton departs for East Jersey | Establishment of Perth Amboy as the principal settlement and port |
| 1684 | Thomas and Benjamin and Shield of Stockton depart | Gawen Lawrie, Scottish merchant, serves as (resident) Deputy Governor |
| First challenge from New York and London to Perth Amboy's right to operate as a free port | ||
| 1685 | Duke of York successed Charles II as James VII and II | |
| Publication of George Scot's Model of the Government of East Jersey | Argyll Rising crushed; Covenanter prisoners held at Dunnottar; many sentenced to transportation | |
| Proclamation against field preaching: death penalty | ||
| America Merchant and the Henry and Francis depart for East Jersey | Disease-stricken Henry and Francis arrives in Perth Amboy | |
| 1686 | Andrew Paterson and other Covenanters walk to Connecticut | |
| Court decision to free the Covenanters of any prospect of indentured service | ||
| Andrew Hamilton sent out as agent of Proprietors | Quaker Monthly Meeting established at Perth Amboy | |
| David Toschach and Patrick Macgregorie set up a fur trading post on the Hudson | ||
| 1687 | Boundary between East and West Jersey resurveyed | |
| Proprietors agree to customs collection at Perth Amboy and indicate willingness to surrender governance rights provided their land rights are preserved | ||
| Andrew Hamilton succeeds Lord Neill Campbell as (resident) Deputy governor | ||
| Reports of a “very sickly year” |
A changing context, 1688-1702
| Year | Scotland | East Jersey |
|---|---|---|
| 1688 | Glorious Revolution': William and Mary replace James VII/II and Jacobites flee | Cargo aboard the Unity confiscated for breach of Navigation Acts |
| 1689 | Williamite Revolution in Scotland; Presbyterian Church restored | Itinerant Scots Anglican preacher Alexander Innes |
| War of the League of Augsburg upsets transatlantic trade | New York presses to annex New Jersey, arguing necessity for defence | |
| Some Covenanters head home. Archibald and McClellan captured by French privateers en route | ||
| 1690 | Death of Robert Barclay | |
| 1691 | The Unity again departs for East Jersey | |
| 1692 | Presbyterian “Old Scots” church built at Freehold | |
| 1695 | Company of Scotland founded, drawing off attention and capital to plans for Darien | Anglican church built at Perth Amboy |
| 1696 | Many Scots focus on Darien scheme | Quaker schism under George Keith leading to many Scots Quakers becoming Anglican |
| 1697 | End of the war with France | Scots build wharf at New Aberdeen village |
| 1698 | East Jersey governance under threat from New York interests | |
| 1702 | Death of William III | East and West Jersey surrendered to the Crown; New Jersey becomes a royal province, ending Proprietor rule |
For a fuller timeline of ‘Important Events in New Jersey’s Proprietary History’, please see see ‘Using the Records of the East and West Jersey Proprietors’ by Joseph R. Klett, New Jersey State Archives (2014).