This third volume of of the Colonial Records of North Carolina chronicles the tumultuous six-year period following the Lords Proprietors’ surrender, focusing on Governor Burrington’s administration as the first Royal Governor. It highlights the challenges of establishing royal authority, including disputes over the validity of laws passed under the Proprietors and Burrington’s frequent and intense clashes with virtually every branch of colonial government and key officials. The text also provides a detailed refutation of historical inaccuracies regarding Burrington’s character and fate, presenting evidence that he died an old man in England rather than in a drunken brawl, and acknowledges his significant, though often unappreciated, efforts in exploring and developing the province. Finally, it offers a snapshot of North Carolina’s governmental structure, economic conditions, and social dynamics during this pivotal transition to Crown rule.
Colonial Records of North Carolina, Volume 3
The Colonial Records of North Carolina is a ten-volume series that presents the official documentary history of North Carolina from its earliest days of settlement through the close of the colonial era in 1776. Compiled under the direction of historian William L. Saunders and published between 1886 and 1890, these volumes contain transcriptions of letters, proclamations, legislative proceedings, council minutes, correspondence with the Crown, and other government records drawn from British and American repositories.
For genealogists, the Colonial Records of North Carolina is an important resource as it contains some of the earliest documentary evidence of individuals and families living in the colony from the late 1600s to the Revolutionary era. While it is not a collection of compiled genealogies or vital records in the modern sense, it includes numerous references to people in official, legal, and civic contexts—often the only existing records of early North Carolinians.