Massachusetts Bay Company Charter (second) is issued in London.

Granted by William III, it and creates the Royal Province of Massachusetts-Bay in New England, expanding the colony to include Maine, the former Plymouth Colony, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands. The new charter restores the elected House of Deputies and a Council of 28 members, but establishes a royal governor, with the power to choose members of the Council from nominations by the Deputies, veto the General Court, and appoint all judicial, military, and administrative officers. It also replaces church membership with property ownership as a requirement to vote (reducing the electorate by some 85%), grants religious freedom to all except Catholics, and creates a new county form of government. The charter goes into effect in 1692* and continues until 1774.*