Land Purchase Act (1875)

The Land Purchase Act, 1875[1] was a statute passed by the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 1875.

The issues that were ultimately addressed by the legislation represented a key element in the negotiations that led to Prince Edward Island's entry into Confederation in 1873.

William Buell Richards, the first Chief Justice of Canada, wrote that the Land Purchase Act was to be "viewed not as ordinary legislation, but as the settling of an important question of great moment to the community, and in principle like the abolition of the Seigniorial tenure in Lower Canada and the settling of the land question in Ireland.

The effort was unsuccessful as landlords could not be forced to sell, and the government lacked the funds to offer attractive prices.

[6] Some of the principles of the 1875 statute continue to this day in the Prince Edward Island Lands Protection Act.

A 1775 plan of the island, as surveyed by Samuel Holland in 1764, showing counties and parishes, as well as the lots granted by the Crown
Delegates at the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, where Confederation was discussed; Prince Edward Island held out in joining Confederation until it was given financial assistance in buying out the holdings of absentee landlords