This petition was favourably received by the government,
and a proclamation was issued promising lands to settlers
in Prince Edward Island on terms similar to those granted
to settlers in Nova Scotia and Quebec.

Encouraged by the liberal terms held forth, a number of
Loyalists went to the island direct from New York, and
a number went later from Shelburne, disappointed by the
prospects there. In June 1784 a muster of Loyalists on
the island was taken, which showed a total of about three
hundred and eighty persons, and during the remainder of
the year a couple of hundred went from Shelburne. At the
end of 1784, therefore, it is safe to assume that there
were nearly six hundred on the island, or about one-fifth
of the total population.

These refugees found great difficulty in obtaining the
grants of land promised to them. They were allowed to
take up their residence on certain lands, being assured
that their titles were secure; and then, after they had
cleared the lands, erected buildings, planted orchards,
and made other improvements, they were told that their
titles lacked validity, and they were forced to move.
Written title-deeds were withheld on every possible
pretext, and when they were granted they were found to
contain onerous conditions out of harmony with the promises
made. The object of the proprietors, in inflicting these
persecutions, seems to have been to force the settlers
to become tenants instead of freeholders. Even Colonel
Edmund Fanning, the Loyalist lieutenant-governor, was