they owned 7 horses, 20 cattle, 55 sheep and 28 hogs; and produced 1,200 bushels of potatoes and lesser amounts of oats, barley and wheat. A map of 1853 shows William and his nephew George (eldest son of Samuel) farming 143 acres on the east side of Stanhope Lane —- lots 116 and 119 -- and James Bovyer, William’s second son, leasing 100 acres on the south side of the Stanhope East Road, between the Friston Road and the Brodie property (lot 104). The census of 1861 shows the families of James and George still living in Stanhope, and Albert DesBrisay Bovyer, third son of William, farming in the Cove- head area. The 1863 map of Lot 34 shows George’s and William’s land occupied by Thomas Foster, and James Bovyer still on lot 104, with George, William and Albert farming land in Covehead, between the Marshall and Darrach properties.

By 1880 there were no Bovyers left in Stanhope, but Mrs. Eliza Bovyer was occupying 50 acres of land in the Covehead Road district, between William Brown’s land to the south and that of James and Benjamin Hughes to the north. And in 1925 Frank B. Bovyer, Eliza’s son, was farming 200 acres in divided lots on the Covehead Road. Miss Jane Bovyer was the last of this branch of the family living in the district; she wrote a local column, Covehead Notes, for Charlotte- town papers, and some consider her to have been the author of the “Sam Hill” verses, about local characters and events. Her deserted and ruined house, almost hidden by trees, next to the Youland property, was still standing until 1979, when it fell down. Mrs. Frank (Gertrude) Vessey of York is the last Bovyer living in Lot 34.

To return to earlier times, near the close of the Revolutionary War, Stephen Bovyer Sr. owned land near Boston Harbour. He was ordered to use his oxen to haul cannon near the shore, to fire on a ship of the Royal Navy, H.M.S. Renown, which was standing off shore; this he refused to do. Some years later during his short stay in Stanhope, he became very friendly with the Reverend Theophilus DesBrisay, the first Anglican clergyman on the Island, and told him this story. On comparing dates, Mr. DesBrisay found he was serving as a naval chaplain on board the Renown on that occasion — an early example of the “small world” situation.

A third generation Bovyer, Stephen, youngest son of John of Lot 48, was the inventor of a horse power machine; as noted in the Royal Gazette of August 8, 1837, Mr. Stephen Bovyer completed his very simple but very efficient horse power which was attached to a threshing machine and tested with a quantity of oats (everyone was) highly gratified with its capabilities the power and; the speed are said to be fully equal to that of the machine imported at great cost

from Boston Another item, from the Royal Gazette of September 12, 1857: —

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