After being ceded the island in the Treaty of Paris in 1763, Great Britain immediately sought to bring its own settlers to occupy the vacated Acadian holdings.
In 1764, Great Britain ordered a survey of what was then called St. John's Island which was completed in 1766.
Each township/lot were to be granted to individuals with certain conditions of settlement (i.e. personally finance and transport settlers to the island; settlers would be obliged to clear land for their farms and pay annual quitrents which, over time would pay off the initial outlay of the owner and eventually turn a profit).
After a contentious century of conflict between property owners/landlords (many of whom were absentee) and the largely poor peasant leaseholders, the last of the property owners was bought out in the 19th century after financing was made available to the Government of Prince Edward Island expressly for buying out the landlords under Prince Edward Island's Terms of Union for entry into Confederation on July 1, 1873.
Today, the townships/lots continue to exist on paper and in maps as Prince Edward Island's census subdivisions.