X is for signatures
At a time when literacy was far from universal, many important legal documents were signed with “a mark” — often the letter X — and witnessed to confirm the authority of the document.
Many examples in the Baldwin Collection of Canadiana include treaties, wills, receipts and affidavits.
Excerpts from copy-book of deeds and provisional agreements for the cession of lands in Upper Canada
Presented to the York Pioneers by William L. Baby in 1872, transferred to the Toronto Public Library, 1902
Baldwin Collection of Canadiana
This copybook contains hand-written copies of original treaty agreements signed in Upper Canada by the chiefs of the Chippewa and the Mississauga nations and the representatives of Great Britain, between 1787 and 1811.
The Toronto Purchase Treaty, signed in 1805, provided a legal description and a map for the area that Britain had bought from the Mississauga in 1787-8 for £1700 and assorted goods. The map shows the land surrendered: a tract of land stretching about 22 km along Lake Ontario, eastward to today's Ashbridge's Bay and reaching inland about 50 km.
In recent years, attempts have been made to reconcile historical land claims. A settlement with the New Credit Nation was reached in 2010 for land taken by the Toronto Purchase Treaty in 1805.
Oaths of Allegiance
For those who took oaths before William Willcocks, Justice of the Peace, Oct. 7, 1800 – Nov. 10,
1806
Baldwin Collection of Canadiana
William Willcocks was a magistrate in York from 1800 until 1806. Individuals seekingpublic office would have been required to take these oaths before him and sign their name.
These three oaths of state were designed in 1701 to exclude supporters of King James II and Catholics from holding public office.
The oath of allegiance was to the King of England. The oath of supremacy denounced Catholicism and the papacy. The oath of abjuration denied James II and his descendants of any right to the English throne.