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[NEW HAMPSHIRE COLONY]. [MASON, Robert Tufton (1635-1688)]. Manuscript document signed (“William Bridgeman”), Court of Whitehall, London, 19 November 1686. 1 page (356 x 229 mm), folio, contemporary copy. Provenance: From the papers of Sir Edmund Andros (1637-1714); H.P. Kraus Rare Books (catalogue note). A document in the long struggle by Robert T. Mason, heir of John Mason, the original patentee of the colony of New Hampshire, to obtain recognition of his rights. After the death of John Mason in 1635, the settlement was practically abandoned, and the territory was taken over by Massachusetts. Following the Restoration in 1660, Robert Mason began a series of lawsuits, petitions, and other proceedings to establish his claim to the ownership of lands in Portsmouth and throughout the colony. This proved unprofitable eventually, the principal result of his actions being the expulsion of Massachusetts from the area, and the establishment of a separate crown colony in 1679. The present paper is headed by a listing of the King’s councilors, 26 in number, following which is a verdict by Bridgeman in favor of R. Mason, against the appeal of William Vaughan, the latter representing the New Hampshire Council, which was resisting Mason’s claims. Bridgeman was Clerk of the Privy Council. Calendar of State Papers (America) XII, No. 999 (4-line summary; apparently otherwise unpublished).