...authority" under that statute "to fill so much of Spy Pond as the widening of Route 2 may require." 1. The great ponds of this Commonwealth are among its most cherished natural resources. Since early times they ...." "The provisions of this chapter relative to great ponds shall apply only to ponds containing in their natural state more than ten acres of ...our great ponds, and does not represent an abrupt change in legislative policy. "The department shall . . . have charge of the...

..., 359 [1835]) or the "Colony Ordinance of 1641-1647" (Whittlesley, Law of the Seashore, Tidewaters Great Ponds in Massachusetts Maine xxv [1932... LAURETTA M. LEBEL vs. MELLIN G. NELSON. No. 89-P-347. Appeals Court of Massachusetts. Suffolk.... CIVIL ACTION commenced in the Land Court Department on February 17, 1982. The case was heard by John E. Fenton, Jr., J...

...Liberties,” which was adopted by the Massachusetts Bay Colony's General Court in 1641 and later expanded. John J. Whittlesey, Law of the Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and M...Massachusetts included the Colonial Ordinance, which stated: Everie Inhabitant who is an hous-holder shall have free fishing and fowling, in any great Ponds, Bayes, Coves and Rivers so far as the Sea...hinder the passage of boats or other vessels in, or through any sea creeks, or coves to other mens houses or lands. Whittlesey, Law of the Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and...

...significance of a body of water being a great pond, has been discussed the Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and Maine 12–...State regulation of the Commonwealth's interest in tidelands and other coastal and inland waterways, including great ponds. Section 35 presently consists of one sentence: “The provisions...of this chapter relative to great ponds shall apply only to ponds containing in their natural state more than ten acres of land, and shall be subject to any rights in such ponds which have been...

...Improvement Ass'n, supra at 780–782, 564 N.E.2d 360. See also J.J. Whittlesey, Law of the Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and...; the sea on the south; and the pond, or ponds, on the north.” In 1712, Butler conveyed to Captain Samuel Smith “a certain parcell of Beach,” defined as a part of the property which was conveyed in the....” The Nortons derive their claimed interest in the beach from Josiah H. Smith, one of Samuel's heirs. In 1888, Allen Norton, great-grandfather of the plaintiff Allen W...

...amended by the 1648 Book of the General Lawes and Libertyes came to be called the Colonial Ordinance of 1641-47. See J. Whittlesey, Law of the Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts ...zone while leaving open the question of title: Every Inhabitant that is an howse holder shall have free fishing and fowling in any great ponds and Bayes, Coves...shall have free fishing and fowling, in any great Ponds, Bayes, Coves and Rivers so far as the Sea ebs and flows, within the precincts of the town where they dwell, unles the Free-men of the same town...

...-waters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and Maine xxxii, xxxv-xxxvii (1932); see Bell v. Town of Wells (Bell I), 510 A.2d 509, 512-13...lands. Whittlesey, Law of the Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and Maine at xxxvi-xxxvii; The Book of the General Lauus and Libertyes Concerning...the Colonial Ordinance. Whittlesey, Law of the Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and Maine at xxxvii-xi. When our...

...Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and Maine 12–13 and 25–31 (1932) (Law of the Seashore). It suffices to say that a pond that exceeds ten acres in its natural state is a great ...coastal and inland waterways, including great ponds. Section 35 presently consists of one sentence: “The provisions of this chapter relative to great ponds shall apply only to ponds containing in ...natural low water mark belong to the Commonwealth, and the ponds are held in trust for certain public uses. See Massachusetts Water Resources Commission, Compilation and Summarization, supra; J.J...

...the time of the adoption of this colonial ordinance, and there were many great ponds in them. While, so far as we know, there is no express decision in Massachusetts upon an issue arising between a...town and the State, as to whether the legal title to great ponds is in the towns or in the State, there are many cases in which it has been said...pond." In Auburn v. Union Water Power Co. 90 Maine, 576, 584, the court said, "It is a settled rule of law in this State and Massachusetts that all great ponds, — that is, ponds cont...

...diversity of opinion on the subject. The colonial ordinance of Massachusetts, adopted in 1641, provided that great ponds containing more than ten acres of land, and lying in common, though within the...therein as well as in tide waters, and affirmed the power of the legislature to dispose of great ponds, tidal bays, coves and rivers, or of the common rights of fishing and fowling in them. Gould on Waters, § 84; ...under water shall extend. The cases reviewed. A judicial decision of the present day, made by the court of highest authority in Great Britain, is entitled to the highest consideration on a question of...

.... Whittlesey, Law of the Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and Maine at xxxvi-xxxvii; The Book of the General Lauus and Libertyes Concerning the Inhabitants of the...political entity in 1653 under the Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter. (Joint SMF ¶ 8.) In 1678, Massachusetts Bay Colony purchased all of the previously ungranted land within the Province of Maine from the...executed. Next, it sets out the authority under which Danforth could convey property. The Massachusetts Colony, the then "proprietor" of Maine, in May 1681 granted to Danforth the power to "make legal...

.... Whittlesey, Law of the Seashore, Tidewaters and Great Ponds in Massachusetts and Maine at xxxvi-xxxvii; The Book of the General Lauus and Libertyes Concerning the Inhabitants of the...the legal significance of a document executed in 1684 by Thomas Danforth, then governor of the Province of Maine. (Town SMF ¶ 2.) The Town argues that this document conveyed from Massachusetts...prior grants of title. (Town SMF ¶ 113; Joint SMF ¶¶ 10, 47-51; Town OSMF ¶ 49.) The Town of Cape Porpoise was incorporated as a political entity in 1653 under the Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter...

...necessary effects of which would be not only to impair the rights of the public in the use of one of the great ponds of Massachusetts for purposes of fishing and boating, but to create a nuisance by...which, in our opinion, this information can be maintained, though perhaps it belongs to the same general head of equity jurisdiction of restraining and preventing nuisances. The great ponds of the.... Mr. Augustine T. Smythe and Mr. Edward McCrady for appellant. I. The courts have no jurisdiction in equity over this case. The essential prerequ...

...we affirm further, that, by virtue of the rule of property derived from the ordinance of 1641-7, as interpreted in this State as well as Massachusetts, the title to all great ponds, — that is, ponds...those great ponds and lakes as to which, by the peculiar laws of the State of Maine, the title was held by the State. By adding the following citation to that already made, the question really at issue...ponds. It is only of great ponds and lakes, the titles to which are held by the State for the use of the public, that we are now speaking. And of these great public ponds and lakes, we affirm that by...

...validity always has been assumed. In the learned note of Mr. Justice Gray, cited above, it was said (page 528): "Great ponds were not at first reserved as public ...Colony to certain individuals for a valuable consideration, in 1680, was upheld, and it was decided that all the subject matter of the grant, including the lands, the waters, and the great ponds lying in the descri...in this litigation, gained by adverse use or by prescription, such rights, or any thereof, as the public have in great ponds under the ordinance of 1641-7?" The jury answered...

..., Grabler's great-pond argument additionally fails because the statutes do not protect any right to build structures in a great pond. The statutes concerning great ponds expressly permit hunting, fishing, ...regarding "great ponds" provides him with a complete defense to the government's actions. Massachusetts defines a great pond as "a natural pond the area of which is...Charles and is now part of a flood plain, the portion of Tract 1712 currently covered by a tennis court is not a sitting body of water as envisioned by the laws concerning great ponds. In sum, the "great...

...great ponds, bays, coves and rivers, and the stopping or hindering the passage of boats. We fail to see the application of the Ordinance under the existing circumstances, or under the points in issue in...defendants cite in their brief the Colonial Ordinance of 1641-47 from "Ancient Charters and Laws of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay," Chapter 63, which related to fishing and fowling in...or on behalf of the public. Mere acquiescence by the owner in occasional and varying use by the public is not sufficient to establish dedication. There must be a clear intent to so...

...of Massachusetts, from the earliest times, have regarded the rights of the public in the great ponds as similar to their rights in the sea...such statements as establishing that "the applicability of the long-established littoral ownership rules to great ponds is still an open question." In our view, the judge read too much into the...statements the Justices made. We see nothing in the Justices' opinion that indicates an intention to abrogate existing case law, or to suggest that the law applicable to great ponds is completely unsettled...

...inconsistent with G.L.c. 131, § 45, as amended by St. 1980, c. 194, which provided that rules and regulations of a town regarding the use of such aircraft on great ponds "shall first be approved by the Massachusetts aeronau...operation of aircraft equipped with floats on great ponds which are wholly or partly within its borders "shall first be approved by the Massachusetts aeronautics commission [the commission... established the commission. The Great Pond Statute provides, in part, that great ponds "shall ...

...by adjudication in some of the other states. And in holding that by conveyances bounding lands on natural ponds, the grantees take title only to low-water mark Massachusetts seems to have taken the...adopted in 1641, and amended in 1647, great ponds, which were defined as those containing more than ten acres, were declared public property, and after this ordinance was so amended in 1647, such .... The plaintiffs do not claim title to any of the land adjacent to the lake, as that was all conveyed by their ancestors by five deeds made in the years 1796, 1813, 1828 and 1845. Natural ponds and...