and was elected Speaker in 1871. He resigned from the Executive Council in 1879. in 1891, on the retirement of his brother James Yeo , Jr. from the Dominion Parliament, John was elected as Federal member for . In 1896 he was elected a member for , holding that seat until 1898 when he was appointed to the Senate. His large house at is still known as The Senator's House. Senator John Yeo was unmarried. William Richards was born May 15, 1819 in Swansea, , England . His father (also named William) was a sea captain and at a very early age, young William showed a partiality for the sea. When he was about 18 years of age, he sailed with his father. By the time he was 25, he had become a master mariner and subsequently became a vessel owner. On July 24, 1849 he married Susannah (Susan) Yeo, born in 1824, a daughter of Hon. James Sr . and Damaris Yeo . They began their married life at sea. In 1852, a son, James William, was born to them in Swansea, Wales . He came with them to Prince Edward Island at a very early age. They had two other children, John and Isabel. Captain Richards started building ships, first at , then at New Bideford and carried on a mercantile business. In 1854, he acquired a shipyard at Bideford that had been built by William Ellis . Sons of William Ellis built many of the Richards ships. Captain Richards acquired ship¬ yards in other parts of the province. In 1864 he had a large house built near the shipyard in Bideford . John England was engaged to do all the joining work in the house. A picture of the residence and other buildings is shown in Meacham 's 1880 Atlas. Part of the house was later moved to Tyne Valley , where it is a comfortably sized home. The remaining part, a beautiful three-story mansion took top honors in the 1964 Centennial competition as the best 100 year old home on Prince Edward Island . At the time, Stanley and Marion Williams were the owners. On a kitchen window pane of the house was printed the name Jack Dale 1881. No other information about Jack Dale has been found. In 1870, Captain Richards was elected by acclamation to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island . In the Prince Edward Island Directory for 1871, he is listed in Bideford as M.P.P ., Merchant and Ship Owner. In April 1872, he was defeated in a general election due to oppo¬ sition to the Railway Bill which he had supported. In 1876, he was elect¬ ed to the Legislative Council. When his term expired he declined to accept re-nomination. He continued in the shipbuilding business until 1892. Chapter Two ~ Early Settlers i i