Province of Massachusetts Bay
The
Province of Massachusetts Bay was a
crown colony organized
October 7,
1691 in
North America by
William and Mary the joint monarchs of the
Kingdom of England and the
Kingdom of Scotland. The charter was enacted
May 14,
1692 and included
Massachusetts Bay Colony,
Plymouth Colony,
Martha's Vineyard,
Nantucket, the
Province of Maine and what is now
Nova Scotia. (Nova Scotia was separated in
1696, and became the
Province of Nova Scotia in 1713.) The
Province of New Hampshire gained its independence from Massachusetts Bay at the time of the creation of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
From 1691, the history of the Province of Massachusetts Bay is usually considered to be the same as that of
Massachusetts. The 1691 "William and Mary Charter" was amended by
King George I's "
Explanatory Charter" which expanded on the original rights granted to the colony.
The Province of Massachusetts Bay existed until approximately
October 7,
1774 when the
General Court of Massachusetts established a provincial congress in response to the tightening control of the crown, and as a preceding act to the revolt of the
American Revolutionary War.
The
Constitution or Form of Government for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts was agreed upon in Cambridge in October
1779 and adopted by the delegates nine months later in June
1780 to go into effect "the last Wednesday of October next".
*
Governor of Massachusetts, for a complete list of Governors from colonial times to the present.
*
Colonial Massachusetts Town Nomenclature
