Daily AncestorQuitrent
A quitrent was a small yearly rent paid to a colony's proprietor or the Crown on land granted to settlers, in place of other services.
A quitrent was an annual charge on land, paid to a higher landholder, usually the Crown or a colony's proprietor, in place of feudal services. Proprietary colonies such as Maryland and Pennsylvania attached quitrents to their land grants.
Colonists often resisted paying, and quitrent rolls are uneven. Where they survive, they work like early tax lists, showing who held which land in a given year.
As seen in a recordClause in a colonial land grant
yielding and paying yearly one shilling sterling quitrent for every fifty acres
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Quitrent." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/legal-land/quitrent. Last checked 2026-10-01.