Bovyer, Stephen Sr.

From: An Island Refuge- Loyalists and Disbanded Troops on The Island of Saint John, The Abegweit Branch of UELAC, 1983

  • The family concerned is that of STEPHEN BOYVER of Cheshire County, who, with his wife Dorothea, daughter of the Reverend Samuel Lowe, a Church of England clergyman, came to America with their sons, John, Stephen and Samuel. There is no further record of Samuel, so it is assumed that he died in America as a youth. Two daughters, Dorothea and Mary, born in England, presumably died there as infants. A son, Robert, was born in America.
  • In the War of Independence in America, the sympathies of Stephen Boyver and those of his wife and family remained with the British. This is confirmed by records indicating that he owned property near the entrance to Boston Harbour and, when he was instructed to transport a cannon with which to fire on the British warship Renown which entered Boston Harbour in 1775 or 1776, he stoutly refused to do so. Parson DesBrisay, then chaplain aboard the ship, lived afterwards in Stanhope and talked with Stephen Boyver of the occurrence.
  • Because of the loyalty to the British Crown, Stephen Boyver and his family (his wife Dorothea died in 1786), including his sons, John and Robert, and also Stephen’s wife and children, left their home at Providence, Rhode Island, and in the year 1787, came to the Island of Saint John.
  • It is apparent from data available that Stephen Boyver, senior, who had considerable means as a result of a legacy obtained through his wife’s estate in England, had negotiated a land grant of one hundred acres at Stanhope in Lot 34, before his departure from Providence. This property was located near the old Stanhope Road. The Boyver property at Covehead Road was purchased by Mrs. Eliza Boyver later.