colony · North America and Oceania
West Jersey
Origins
In 1674 Lord Berkeley sold his half of New Jersey to the Quakers John Fenwick and Edward Byllynge, and William Penn became a trustee for the debt-ridden Byllynge. Fenwick founded Salem in 1675, and in 1677 a shipload of Quakers founded Burlington, which became the capital. The Quintipartite Deed of 1676 separated West Jersey from East Jersey.
Rule and society
The Concessions and Agreements of 1677, associated with Penn, guaranteed freedom of conscience, trial by jury and an elected assembly with wide powers. Quaker meetings shaped community life, and the colony served as a model for the Province of Pennsylvania. Farmers along the Delaware raised grain and livestock. After Byllynge's death the physician Daniel Coxe bought the governing rights in 1687 and sold them to the West Jersey Society in 1692.
Decline and legacy
Disputes between proprietors and settlers led to the surrender of government in 1702, reuniting West and East Jersey as the royal Province of New Jersey. The Council of Proprietors of West Jersey still meets in Burlington.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (1)
- West Jersey was part of Dominion of New England1688 CE – 1689 CE
More states of North America and Oceania →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). West Jersey. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/west-jersey
- MLA
- “West Jersey.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/west-jersey. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “West Jersey.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/west-jersey.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘West Jersey’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/west-jersey (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻