The Manor of Gilberts was one of the areas of land that
William Penn set aside for himself as the Proprietor of the
Province of Pennsylvania
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to W ...
. The Manor was located on the along the left (northeastern) bank of the
Schuylkill River, extending above and below the
Perkiomen Creek. The Manor was created on 8 October 1683 when Penn wrote a warrant assigning the Manor to himself. The tract was named after his paternal grandmother Joanne (Gilbert) Penn's family.
The initial Manor was , ranging from below
Pottstown (''i.e.''
Limerick Township) down through what is now
Norristown.
By the 1687 map, the Manor had shrunk to of land. Then the Manor just included all of present day
Upper
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and
Lower Providence Townships, the Burroughs of
Trappe and
Collegeville, and portions of
Perkiomen;
Skippack; and
Worcester Townships.
In 1699, the area of the Manor that is now Lower Providence Township, east of the Perkiomen, was deeded to the
Pennsylvania Land Company of London
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...
who leased it for income. By 1760, the Pennsylvania Land Company was dissolved by Parliament and its lands sold at auction, although most were bought by the former lease holders. The area west of the Perkiomen was leased directly by Penn and his heirs.
The Manor name was abandoned in 1729 with the organization of
Providence Township.
All Manor lands were in that portion of
Philadelphia County that was subsequently split off to form present day
Montgomery County,
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, USA.
References
Province of Pennsylvania
Former municipalities in Pennsylvania
Geography of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
History of Pennsylvania
1683 establishments in Pennsylvania
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