Introduction
The colony of North Carolina followed the method of making grants of land that was common throughout the mainland British American colonies – by headright, also known as landright.  Although there were numerous refinements and variations, the system allotted each grantee a certain amount of land based on the number of persons he or she brought into the colony.  Acquisition of land by purchase grant was generally an option also, but a much less common one than acquisition of land by headright.
Although details varied from time to time, the usual practice in North Carolina allowed persons imported for a claim of headright to be slave, bondservant, or free, male or female, and of any age.  Until 1712, when the practice was abolished as an abuse of the proprietors’ rights and an unfair evasion of payment of fees to local officials, persons who had no intention of remaining in the colony could not claim a headright.  thereafter, one had to reside at least six months in the colony before making a claim. Similarly, in the period before 1712 multiple importations of the same person was allowed.  This menat that when someone left the colony and returned, he or she was entitled to a grant. . .

Not included here are applications for grants that include only the applicant’s name, the practice during the later colonial era.

A notable feature of named headrights is that very often familial relationships are indicated as are the names of slaves and servants included in the household.  In addition, the first reference to an individual in any document of the colonial era may well be in a headright claim.  For many others, the same source constitutes the sole surviving record of their existence. . .