LORD FAIRFAX, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord of Cameron (1693-1781), was the only member of the British peerage to permanently reside in British America; he owned the Northern Neck Proprietary in the Colony of Virginia, the largest land grant in the Colony, and where Lord Fairfax spent the majority of his life. In 1748, he became acquainted with a young George Washington, a distant relative of the Fairfax family and became his mentor, friend, and first employer, hiring the 17 year old Washington to survey some of his lands.
August 1, 1767-Dated Colonial Virginia Manuscript Document, a large vellum Indenture, with its redwax and embossed paper seal intact at upper left, Signed, "Fairfax", as "Proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia", to James French, of a tract of 65 acres of land in Hampshire County (now in West Virginia), Very Fine. The land is described as located on the North Branch of the Little Cacapon river (spelled "Cacapehon" in the document). The 1 page deed measures 13.5” x 7.5”, and is Signed "Fairfax" at bottom right, who notes that it was "Given at my office in the County of Frederick, under my hand and seal." This deed grants the 65 acres, but notes that it does not include any "Royal Mines", stating: “a full third Part of all Lead, Copper & Tin... Iron Mine & Iron Ore that shall be found theron” and also requires payment of an annual reserved rent of 1 shilling per acre. Quite readable written in brown ink, having four small spots towards the bottom affecting a few words. John Mauzy was one of Lord Fairfax's licensed surveyors in the Northern Neck Proprietary, active from at least the late 1740s into the late 1760s. He appears repeatedly in the abstracts of Northern Neck warrants and surveys.




This August 1st, 1767 Land Document reads, in full:

"The Right Honourable Thomas Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron, In that Part of Great Britain called Scotland, Proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia, To all To whom this present Writing shall come sends Greeting. Know ye that for good causes for & in Consideration of the Composition to me paid and for the Annual rent hereinafter reserved, I have given granted & confirmed and by these Presents for me my heirs & assigns do give, grant & confirm unto James French of Hampshire County a certain tract of waste & ungranted on the North Branch of Little Cacapehon in the s’d County and bounded as by a Survey thereof made by John Mauzy Beginning at a white oak corner to John Cellins on the North side the s'd branch then along his line South crossing the s'd branch Fifty poles to two white oaks on a hillside his corner then No. 55.. Fifty two poles to a white oak on the North side the s'd Branch then down the courses thereof No. 67 Twenty five poles No. 78 Forty two poles, So. 12 eight poles, No. 75 Forty poles, No. 21 Twelve poles, No. 19 Sixty poles, No. 70 Seventeen Poles to a white oak below the mouth of a branch, then No. 15 Fifty poles to a Spanish Oak on a hill side then So. 70 Two hundred & thirty two poles to the Beginning, Containing Sixty five acres Together with all the rights, members & appurtenances thereunto belonging, Royal Mines excepted and a full third Part of all Lead, Copper & Tin... Iron Mine & Iron Ore that shall be found theron, to have & to hold s'd Sixty five Acres of Land altogether with all rights.... except before excepted, to him the s'd James French, his heirs & assigns forever, he the s'd James French, his heirs & assigns therefore Yielding & paying to me, my heirs or assigns or to my certain Attorney or Attorney's Agent or Agents or to the certain Attorney or Attornies of my heirs or Assigns, Proprietors of the s'd Northern Neck, Yearly... paid on the Feast Day of Saint Michael, The Archangel, the Fee rent of One Shilling Sterling Money for every of the acres hereby granted...for a greater or lesser Quantity, Provided That if the s'd James French his heirs or assigns shall not pay the s'd reserved Annual rent as aforesaid, so that the same or any part thereof shall be behind & unpaid by the space of two whole Years after the same shall become due (if demanded) that the ...shall & may be lawfull for me, my Heirs or Assigns, Proprietors as afores'd, my or their certain Attorney or Attornies, Agent or Agents Into the above granted premises to reenter & hold the same so as if this Grant had never passed.

Given at my Office in the County of Frederick under my Hand & Seal, Dated the First Day of August A.D. 1767 -- (Signed) Fairfax

Registered in the Proprietors Office

Book O folio 55"

The docketing on the back reads: "James French deed for 65 acres in Hampshire County. Ent'd & Ex'd" (Entered & Examined)

Note: In Winchester, Virginia, the Handley Regional Library's archives hold a Thomas, Lord Fairfax collection with original grant manuscripts, including the Mauzy grant and other 1760s Frederick County documents.

A prospective landowner obtained a survey warrant from Lord Fairfax at the Northern Neck Land Office at Greenway Court (near present-day White Post, just outside Winchester), then a licensed surveyor and the landowner would travel to the tract to measure and mark the acreage. The completed survey and warrant went back to the Proprietary office, and the grant deed then recited the surveyor's name, which is where your "Survey thereof made by John Mauzy" language comes from.
[Colonial America, Colonial Virginia, 18th Century America] [Lord Fairfax, Northern Neck Proprietary, Land Grants] [Manuscripts, Documents, Indentures, Vellum]