Vice Admiralty Courts were those courts having admiralty jurisdiction in British possessions overseas. Admiralty jurisdiction covers wrongful acts committed on the high seas or in navigable waters and included criminal jurisdiction. Although the Commission and Instructions to Walter Patterson do not specify admiralty jurisdiction, by 1774 he reported that he had appointed an admiralty judge and other officials. There is no record that this court ever met. Some years later (1832?) the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were empowered to appoint a Vice-Admiral, Judge and other officers for a court of Vice-Admiralty of Prince Edward Island. The Court continued to function as such until 1891 when jurisdiction in maritime law was assumed by the Exchequer Court of Canada, now the Federal Court of Canada. At this time the court in Prince Edward Island became the Prince Edward Island Admiralty District of the Exchequer Court of Canada with its own seal and registrar.