Name: How an American raid stripped P.E.I. of its original Great Seal
Uploaded: 2025-11-28T17:34:14.204Z
Duration: 2 min 18 s
Description: When Prince Edward Island was first declared a colony of the British Empire, it was gifted a silver seal to put a stamp on official documents. Matthew McRae of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation recounts how American privateers ransacked Charlottetown and stole the first official seal.

When Prince Edward Island was first declared a colony of the British Empire, it was gifted a silver seal to put a stamp on official documents. Matthew McRae of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation recounts how American privateers ransacked Charlottetown and stole the first official seal.

In 1775, during the American Revolution, American privateers attacked Charlottetown, then part of St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island), and stole the colony's original Great Seal. The seal, a unique silver artifact used to authenticate official documents, was taken along with other valuables after the acting governor and surveyor general were kidnapped.

The prisoners were later released in Salem, Massachusetts, but the Great Seal was never returned. Despite appeals to General George Washington, there is no evidence that compensation or the seal itself was ever recovered. It is believed the seal was likely melted down for its silver, though its ultimate fate remains unknown.

How an American raid stripped P.E.I. of its original Great Seal

Have you ever heard of the Great Seal of Prince Edward Island? And do you know what happened to it? Back in the 1770s, Prince Edward Island was called St. John's Island and had just become a British colony. As a result, it got a Great Seal. That was a silver, round seal that was placed on documents and pressed into wax to make it official, to make official documents. There was only one of those seals. And, on one day in 1775, it was stolen. You see, recently, the American Revolution had broken out. And, the Americans had sent two ships into the Gulf of St. Lawrence to attack British shipping. However, these ships decided, the captains decided that is, that it was a lot of work to attack British ships, so they sailed to Charlottetown with the plan to ransack it. When they arrived in the harbor on November 17th, 1775, Phillips Colbeck, the acting governor, and also the ancestor of Premier Catherine Colbeck, went down to the water to meet them and try to talk them out of it. But, no luck. He was kidnapped, along with the surveyor general for the colony, Thomas Wright. And then, the privateers marched into town and broke into Phillips Colbeck's house, as well as the governor's house, and ransacked everything. Curtains, carpets, jewelry, furniture. They drank all the liquor, they ate all the food, and then they went back to their ships, along with all their ill-gotten goods, including the Great Seal of Prince of Rhode Island. From there, they sailed back to the United States, or what was becoming the United States, and then were chided for having actually taken prisoners. And so, in Salem, Massachusetts, Phillips Colbeck and Thomas Wright were released, but not with any of the goods, and not with the Seal of Prince of Rhode Island. They did write a letter to General George Washington asking for the return of the seal, as well as other goods, or some form of compensation, although there's no evidence that that ever came. And since then, the seal has been missing. What happened to it? Well, we're not sure. The most likely answer is that it was melted down as silver to help finance the American war effort. But, it is possible, just a little bit possible, that there is an attic somewhere in New England that right now contains the first Great Seal of Prince of Rhode Island.

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