Committee of officers was appointed to meet at Dublin, on February 1, 1655, to consider the best mode of allotting the lands amongst the regiments.[1]
Under his contract, Dr. Petty undertook to survey, admeasure, and map all the forfeited lands, profitable or unprofitable, barony by barony and parish by parish, down to the smallest known civil denominations,[2] together with all Crown and ecclesiastical lands. Where any civil denomination was in excess of the lot or number of acres due to any officer or soldier according to the amount of his commuted arrears, it was to be subdivided and mapped out into smaller parcels by the help of auxiliary limits, but except for this express purpose, no 'surround' smaller than forty acres was to be separately surveyed and admeasured. All the particulars requisite for the proper distribution of the forfeited lands amongst the claimants were to be entered from the records of the Civil Survey upon the face of each map, such as the names of the owners and the area, with the quality and estimated value. Plotts, or maps, were to be laid down on a scale of forty perches to an inch, and, with the corresponding information and references marked out upon them, were to be delivered to the officers and soldiers on demand, provided that no separate map was to be required of any proportions less than 1,000 acres.[3] The work, it was agreed, was to be completed in thirteen months dating from December 11, 1654, allowing one year more for complaints or appeals against it; but in consideration of the unavoidable delays which took place in the early stages of the work, the date was ultimately postponed to thirteenth months, from February 1, 1655. The rate of payment agreed upon was 7l. 3s. 4d. per 1,000 acres of forfeited profitable land, of which one penny per acre was to be paid by the army, and the rest by the State. The Church and Crown lands were to be mapped at the rate of 3l. an acre. Under his agreement Dr. Petty was to deliver maps of the forfeited lands
