[FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR]. BERNARD, Francis (1712-1779). Document signed ("Fra. Bernard"), as Colonial Governor of Province of Massachusetts Bay, 17 April 1761.

One page, visible 7 7/8 x 13 3/8 in., with original Province Massachusetts Bay Colony seal. Short separation along original folds, spotting, toning. Matted and framed to approx. 17 x 23 in., not examined out of the frame.

Appoints Captain Thomas Cowden to apprehend deserters, noting the "great numbers of Deserters...dispersed through the Province" and seeking to ameliorate the problem by assigning someone "to make search for, and to apprehend all such Deserters..." Cowden is to be assisted in this purpose by "all Justices of the Peace through the Province, all Sheriffs and their Deputies and all Constables and all other His Majesty's good subjects..."

Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet (1712-1779) served as governor of the provinces of New Jersey (1758-1760) and Massachusetts Bay (1760-1769). Though he enjoyed a largely positive relationship with the New Jersey assembly during his short time governing the province, his experience in Massachusetts Bay was wholly different. His early enforcement of the unpopular Navigation Acts, along with the resurfacing of writs of assistance created division, and the onslaught of tax measures including the Sugar, Stamp, and Townsend Acts catapulted his unpopularity, leading to open opposition from within the assembly. Bernard returned to England in 1769, but continued to advise the British government on colonial policy.