It was under the direction of Surveyor-General Joseph Bouchette in 1791 that the area was plotted out using the Township System. The English system of Free and Common Soccage was used to establish land grants in the area, contrary to the traditional French seigneurial long lot system. With the passage of the 1791 Constitutional Act into law, settlement officially began on the land that was to become the Eastern Townships. Historical geography of Eastern Townships This system was similar to that used in US, the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) proposed by Thomas Jefferson. Each section was in turn subdivided into four quarters (SE, SW, NW, NE) of 160 acres, more or less.” Within a township, the sections were numbered from 1 to 36, in a zig-zag pattern, beginning with section 1 in the extreme southeast corner of the township. “The basic survey unit is the township, approximately six miles square, each containing 36 sections of one square mile, or 640 acres, plus allowances for road access to each section. The diagrams below show the system of numbering the sections and the usual method of subdividing them.Size of townships, 13 April 2006, Mo Laidlawįrom 1791, (in Upper and Lower Canada) townships located on navigable rivers were nine miles wide and twelve miles deep, while townships in the interior were squared off in ten mile by ten mile allotments.įrom 1869, Dominion land survey, in the west (prairies): It is divided into 36 square-mile “sections” of 640 acres, each which may be divided and subdivided as desired. Guide Meridians, at intervals of 24 miles east and (or) west of the Principal Meridian, are extended north and (or) south from the Base Line Standard Parallels, at 24-mile intervals north and (or) south of the Base Line, are extended east and (or) west from the Principal Meridian. Thus, the description of a township as “Township 16 North, Range 7 West” would mean that the township is situated 16 tiers north of the Base Line for the Principal Meridian and 7 ranges west of that meridian. The township numbers east or west of the Principal Meridians are designated as ranges whereas, the numbers north and south of the Base Line are tiers. The base lines running north and south are known as “Principal Meridians”, while the east and west base lines are called simply “Base Lines”. Under this system the lands are divided into “townships,” 6 miles square, which are related to base lines established by the federal government.
The system of rectangular surveys was inaugurated in 1785 and the laws governing its establishment have, with various modifications, been applied to all of the United States with the exception of the states listed above.
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