Massachusetts: Polity Style: 1629-1686

24 Oct/3 Nov 1620	part of the territory in North America, styled as New England in America, is granted to a Council established in Plymouth, Co. Devon, England (Council of New England), in accordance with letters patent (charter) issued by command of the King of England on 24 Oct/3 Nov 1620 (Hazard's Historical Collections, 1:103-118)
19/29 Mar 1628	part of the territory of New England in America, adjacent to the Massachusetts Bay, is enfeoffed to Sir Henry Rosewell and others by a deed issued by the Council of New England on 19/29 Mar 1628 (Massachusetts Governor and Company Records, 1:3-19) [1]
4/14 Mar 1629	the grant by the Council of New England is confirmed and a "body corporate and politique" is incorporated by the name of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England in accordance with letters patent (charter) issued by command of the King of England on 4/14 Mar 1629 (Massachusetts Governor and Company Records, 1:3-19) [2]
Jun/Jul 1629	the colony of the Massachusetts Bay is established upon the delivery and publication of the Charter in Massachusetts [3]
Jun/Jul 1629 - 25 May/4 Jun 1686	Colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England
13/23 Oct 1684	the charter of 1629, granted to the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, is declared "vacated, cancelled and annihilated" by judgment of the Court of Chancery under a writ of scire facias on 13/23 Oct 1684, following the colony's failure to respond to accusations of its violation (Massachusetts Judgment 1684, pp. 246-278)
25 May/4 Jun 1686	the exemplification of the judgment against the charter of 1629 is publicly read at the meeting of the Council for New England on 25 May/4 Jun 1686 in Boston (Dudley Records, pp. 226-230)
25 May/4 Jun 1686	Massachusetts is placed under the administration of the President and Council of the Territory and Dominion of New England in accordance with a royal commission to Joseph Dudley of 8/18 Oct 1685 which was read and published at the meeting of the Council on 25 May/4 Jun 1686 in Boston (Massachusetts Royal Commissions, pp. 37-43; Dudley Records, pp. 226-230)

The original of the Rosewell grant is not known to exist, but it is extensively—if not entirely—quoted in the Charter of 1629 (Moody 1950, pp. 56-57).
The variations in spelling were explicitly recorded in the Charter ("comonlie called Massachusetts, alias Mattachusetts, alias Massatusetts bay").
The Charter was dispatched to New England with Samuel Sharpe, sailing aboard the George, as confirmed by a letter sent from the Governor and Deputy of the New England Company to the Governor and Council in the Massachusetts Bay (dated 17 and 21 Apr 1629 O.S.) (Massachusetts Governor and Company Records, 1:386-398) The George is said to have arrived to Naumkeag (now Salem) on 23 Jun/3 Jul 1629 (Diary of Francis Higginson in Massachusetts Original Papers Collection, pp. 43-44). The date of delivery of the Charter to Governor Endecott and of its publication is not mentioned in any extant sources.