The Hempstead Convention was a ten-day assembly where 34 delegates met starting on February 28, 1665, "to settle good and known laws" according to a letter by newly appointed Governor

Richard Nicolls Richard Nicolls ( – 28 May 1672) was an English military officer and colonial administrator who served as the first governor of the Province of New York from 1664 to 1668. Early life Richard Nicolls was born in in Ampthill, Bedfordshire. He ...

, the first

English colonial English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

governor of the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

. Towns were invited to send two delegates who were "the most sober, able and discrete persons" chosen by taxpayers at their respective Town meetings.

History

Nicoll opened the Convention by reading the Duke's Patent and his own commission. He then announced laws similar to those in New England, with one critical difference. They were less severe "in matters of conscience and of Religion." Blasphemy and witchcraft, for instance, were not included among the eleven capital crimes. Other provisions included equal taxation, trial by jury, establishment of land tenure with land being held from the Duke, and old patents were recalled and new ones required. Significant for future settlement, was that no land purchases from the Indians were to be made without consent. Every parish was required to build and maintain a church, and no minister was to officiate, who "had not received ordination from some Bishop or Minister" of the Anglican Church. Prayers for the English royal family were required and services were to be held on the historic days of Nov. 5th, January 30, and May 29. Other laws were enacted to guide the manners of the time and actions of daily life. These laws were met by some resistance for the conferees, who had hoped for freedom equal or greater than in the new England colonies. They desired all civil officers be chosen by the freemen, all military officers by the soldiers, and that no magistrate "should have any yearly maintenance." One request that would gain strength nearly a century later was that no tax should be imposed only with the consent of deputies to the General Court. This might be considered an early expression of the concept, no taxation without representation. Some compromises were made, though for others, Nicolls recommended if delegates wanted a greater share in government than his instructions allowed, they "must go to the King for it." The Judiciary was also formed at this meeting. The High Sheriff of Yorkshire was to yearly appoint a Deputy for each Riding. Two Justices holding office at the Governor's pleasure, were given to each town. The towns were allowed yearly, on the first day of April, to elect a constable and eight overseers (later reduced to four). Two of the overseers were chosen to "make a rate" for maintenance of the church and clergyman, and support of the poor. From the overseers the Constable selected jurors to attend the Courts of Sessions and Assize. The Court of Assize was the highest tribunal, subordinate only to the Governor and Duke. The Governor, his Council, and the Magistrates of several towns met yearly in New York. The court held jurisdiction in suits of over twenty pounds, and appellate to lesser amounts. At the close of the Convention, Governor Nicoll appointed William Wells of Southold as High Sheriff,

Captain John Underhill John Underhill (c. 1608/09 – 21 July 1672) was an early English settler and soldier in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Province of New Hampshire, where he also served as governor; the New Haven Colony, New Netherland, and later the Province ...

as High Constable and Surveyor-General, and the following as Justices: Daniel Denton of Jamaica, John Hicks of Hempstead, Jonas Wood of Huntington, and James Hubbard of Gravesend. High Sheriffs of Yorkshire would continue to be appointed, until counties were organized in 1683. High Sheriffs that followed included William Wells (1665–69), Robert Coe (1669–72), John Manning (1672–75), Sylvester Salisbury (1675–76), Thomas Willet (1676-79), Richard Betts, (1679–81), and John Youngs (1681-1683).Early Long Island: a colonial study
by Martha Bockée Flint, p. 303.

Delegates to the Hempstead Convention

* Nieuw Utrecht -

Jacques Cortelyou Jacques Cortelyou (–1693) was an influential early citizen of New Amsterdam (later New York City) who was Surveyor General of the early Dutch colony. Cortelyou's main accomplishment was the so-called Cortelyou Survey, the first map of New York ...

, (unnamed) Fosse * Nieuw Amersfoordt - Elbert Elbertsen, Roeleff Martense *

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

- James Hubbard,

John Bowne John Bowne (1627–1695), the progenitor of the Bowne family in America, was a Quaker and an English settler residing in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. He is historically significant for his struggle for religious liberty. Background Born i ...

* Flatbasch - Jan Stryker, Hendrick Jorassen * Boswyck - John Stealman, Guisbert Teunis *

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Daniel Denton Daniel Denton (c. 1626 – 1703) was an early American colonist. Denton led an expedition into the interior of northern New Jersey. He was one of the purchasers of what is known as the Elizabethtown Tract in 1664, in the area of (and surrounding) p ...

Thomas Benedict Thomas Benedict, Sr. (1617 – February 28, 1689) was an early settler in colonial New York, and Connecticut. He was a member of the General Court of the Colony of Connecticut The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River ...

* Hempstead - John Hicks, Robert Jackson * Oyster Bay -

, Matthias Harvey * Huntington - Jonas Wood, John Ketchum * Brookhaven - Daniel Lane, Roger Barton * Southold - William Wells, John Youngs *

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

- Thomas Topping, John Howell * East Hampton - Thos. Baker, John Stratton * Westchester -

John Quinby John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

Edward Jessup Edward Jessup (December24, 1735February3, 1816), together with his brother Ebenezer Jessup (July 1739 – 1818), was a large landowner in present-day New York State before the American Revolution, and later a soldier and political figure in Upp ...

References

{{reflist History of the Thirteen Colonies Legal history of the United Kingdom Legal history of New York (state)