Prince Edward Island

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Prince Edward Island was ceded by France in 1763, becoming a separate colony in 1769. The island was granted to absentee proprietors in 1767. It was called St John's Island until 1799. Most settlers came direct from the British Isles, bringing sectarian conflict. Attempts by tenants to dispossess landlords provided models for land legislation in Ireland. Although the dominion of Canada was planned at a conference in Charlottetown, the island's capital, in 1864, Prince Edward Island remained aloof until 1873. L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908) was set on ‘the only island there is’.

Ged Martin

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