MACGREGOR GREGOR: (1786-1845) Scottish Soldier, Adventurer, and Confidence Trickster. A scarce D.S., Gregor MacGregor, one page, large folio, London, 28th April 1834. The unusual printed document, in English and French, is a Poyaisian Land Grant for 200 Acres, fraudulently issued by MacGregor and numbered Class F. No. 932, the text providing a 'Copy of the ORIGINAL GRANT from the King of the Mosquito Shore and Nation, to His Excellency General Sir Gregor Mac Gregor', detailing the boundaries of the land '…from the mouth of Zacarylyon River, in Longitude 85 8' West, and following the eastern bank of the said river, South, to Latitude 15° 37' North…' and further continuing with a testimonial from William Smith stating he was 'Mate of the Ship called the Honduras Packet, trading between Poyais and London…he was present at Cape Gracias à Dios, and did see the Paper Writing hereunto annexed…' and concluding 'We, Gregor Mac Gregor, Cacique of Poyais, do hereby certify that the Bearer hereof is entitled to Two Hundred Acres of Land in that part of the Poyaisian Republic called Poyais Proper…' Signed by MacGregor to the foot and countersigned by four 'Trustees'. Some neat splitting at the central and vertical folds, partially repaired to the verso with tape, with light age wear, G
MacGregor attempted, from 1821 to 1837, to draw British and French investors and settlers to 'Poyais', a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule. Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor's invented country in 1822-23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. MacGregor's Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history.