Papers of John Adams, volume 2
1774-06
Letters to . . . The Earl of Hillsborough from Governor Bernard
A few Days before the Election in May 1774 Lt General Gage, arrived at Boston Governor of this Province.1 With a Boston Port Bill a Bill for altering the civil Government, and another for the impartial Administration of Justice &c.2—at the Election he negatived 13 Councillors3—on the first of June, the Harbour of Boston was blockaded and on the 14 and 15 of the Same Month, two Regiments from Ireland landed on the long Wharf and incamped in the cornmon.4
Letters to the Right Honorable the Earl of Hillsborough from Governor Bernard, General Gage, and the Honorable His Majesty's Council . . . , Boston, 1769 (MHi)). The entry follows Gage's letter to Hillsborough, 31 Oct. 1768, concerning his visit to Boston that month and his impressions of the town.
Gage arrived in Boston Harbor as governor, 13 May 1774, and landed in the town on 17 May (John R. Alden, General Gage in America, Baton Rouge, La., 1948, p. 204).
Actually the Administration of Justice Act and the Massachusetts Government Act were not signed until 20 May (Merrill Jensen, The Founding of a Nation, N.Y., 1968, p. 457); and the Port Act arrived before Gage (Gage, Corr.
, 1:355).
See calendar entry for 25 May 1774, above.
The Fourth and Forty-third regiments (Gage, Corr.
, 1:358).