In 1875, the Commissioner of Public Lands applied to acquire the lands of Charlotte Antonia Sulivan, and the resulting award determined that she was entitled to be paid $81,500. Sulivan, through her agent George Wastie DeBlois, appealed on the basis that the awards did not describe the lands in sufficient detail, that proper legal procedures had not been followed, and that the "British North America Act" did not permit such legislation as the "Land Purchase Act". The provincial Supreme Court agreed in January 1876.