driven off by the land owner, who contended that the government had no authority to allot the property. In 1788, deprived of his land grant, John Bovyer moved to Lot 48, where he purchased a well-known and profitable farm called Fullerton’s Marsh. The 895-acre farm was purchased from John Bracken, who had purchased it from Lt. James Park. John Bovyer renamed the farm Bunbury after his ancestral home near Chester, England. A census conducted in 1798 revealed a total of 62 inhabitants in Lot 48, an area that included Southport, Keppoch, Cross Roads, Mt. Albion, Mt. Herbert, Mermaid, Bethe], and Lake Verde. John Bovyer is listed among the 12 households surveyed. Descendants of John Bovyer still live on the ancestral property.

The Mason family of RE]. began with William Mason, who emigrated from Birdforth, Yorkshire, England, in the early part of the nineteenth century. At one time, the Mason family owned land from the shore of the East River to Cross Roads. A senior member of the Mason family related this story about the early Mason home:

William Mason built a log cabin down by the shore. George was their oldest son. And when he was going to be married, they knew that they had to build. William wanted to build where the log cabin was. George wanted to build way up fitrther. So they kind of settled it and built where it is today, which is in a good place.

Seven generations of Masons have lived on the farm.

The Farquharson family had its origins in Banffshire, near Aberdeen, Scotland. William Farquharson, called the Squire, came to the Island and settled first at St. Andrew’s from where he moved to Bunbury in 1810. He was twice married, and by his first wife 17 children were born. His second wife was Dorenda