Mortlake, Connecticut

Mortlake was a historical place name in what is now Brooklyn, Connecticut.

On October 19, 1687, the Connecticut Colonial General Court granted Captain William Blackwell a patent for a separate township laid out south of Mashamoquet Brook, six miles east to west and seven miles north to south, to be called Mortlake. Captain Blackwell chose that name to honor Mortlake in Surrey, England (now part of greater London).

Geographically, the northbound followed Mashamoquet Brook, the eastbound followed the Quinebaug. The western boundary was approximately half mile west of and parallel to today’s Connecticut State Route 169, while the southern boundary laid approximately half mile north of today’s U.S. Route 6 – looking at a map, it roughly aligned with Herrick Road and the part of Brown Road that runs more or less straight east-west.

This patent was in the form of a Manor, a form of tenure restricted to certain Proprietary colonies, a large estate with hereditary rights granted by Royal Charter, – a legal anomaly in Connecticut, where it was outside of the power and authority of any Town. Jurisdiction in Mortlake did not rest in an elected town government, but as property right that could be bought and sold. Falling outside the legal framework that Connecticut organized Towns, Mortlake’s residents found themselves without responsibilities, but also without normal rights (such as to levy taxes to pay for roads and general welfare of its inhabitants). Indeed, once Windham County was established the very first case heard in its courts was a lawsuit by the Town of Norwich to force Mortlake to pay for the care of “the poor, witless Peter Davison” who resided originally in Mortlake. Massachusetts Governor Johnathan Belcher, who had purchased Mortlake from Captain Blackwell, was successfully defended by his attorney with the argument that Mortlake as a Manor did not have the same responsibilities to the poor as a Town would.

The Town of Pomfret bordered Mortlake to the North, West, and after Pomfret was expanded southward taking a portion of Canterbury, on the South as well. This southernmost part of Pomfret being the area today known as Brooklyn Center.

...
Wikipedia