[4] Becoming the proprietor, he would be familiar with then the Island of St. John, having first come out to North America in 1754, with the English naval blockade of Ile Royal and the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1756, and then serving off Quebec and in the St. Lawrence into 1759.
"[13] After a full thirty-five years on active service, as then Sir Richard Spry, Rear-admiral of the red, he died unmarried, on 25 Nov 1775, at Place House, in St Anthony in Roseland, Cornwall.
[5] Sir Richard's estate passed to his sister Mary and her son Thomas Davy, Captain RN, they, as coheirs assuming proprietorship of Lot 62.
[18] While serving as a county magistrate, and standing as a reserved list Vice-Admiral of the Blue, in 1799,[19] the Spry's Lot 62, amongst many, was noted, in default for the third time, as the subject of no effort to satisfy the 1767 Lottery 'Conditions of Settlement' - and became open to consideration for escheat.
[23][24] Actually protected from Distraint and Escheat, by London, it is most likely that Lot 62 was 'simply' sold to discharge the accumulating debt, a land speculation inherited from an uncle, an investment gone bad.
The Spry estate would have long heard of actions of the PEI Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly, pressing on the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Home Government, in its efforts to finally act on Quit-rent arrears.
As in 1802, the Home Government classified Lot 62, as a 'township wholly unoccupied', and the proprietors were deemed obligated to pay fifteen years Quit-Rent, in lieu of all arrears, up to 1 May 1801.
[25][26] Noted as a great relief and an encouragement to sell, with a considerable reduction, having to pay £600 on a debt of now £1,340, and getting money in a sale, the Spry heirs were probably most anxious to dispose of their 20 000 acres, as were others, as nearly one third of the unsettled PEI lots were sold and transferred, in 1803.
[27] Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk was born on 20 June 1771, and in Canada, he is most noted as the Scottish patron who sponsored the settlement at the Red River Colony in Manitoba (1811).
[28][29] Always favouring large-scale emigration, having advanced his views repeatedly and with enthusiasm, in the winter of 1801/02, Selkirk first put forward to the Colonial Office his belief of the need to provide new challenges to the catholic population of an oppressed Ireland.
Soon recognizing that the government would not countenance the resettlement of Irish immigrants in America, Selkirk offered in the alternative the emigration of Protestant Scottish Highlanders.
[34][35] Coming to understand the Island, learning of its potential through John Stewart, with arranged purchases from private proprietors, by July 1803, his first expedition had set out.
"At one place, I went a little into the wood, & saw large stumps – I learnt on arriving at Charlotte Town, that all this coast had been laid waste by a great fire 30 or 40 years ago: – The soil however appears very poor sand.
[48] The 'NORTHERN FRIENDS' of Clyde, coming from Stornoway arrived on 3 October 1805, a Brigantine of 245 tons, captained by Archibald McPherson, she brought 91 settlers from the Outer Hebrides and Wester Ross.
[53][54] On 22 September 1806, The "SPENCER" of Newcastle upon Tyne, a brigantine of 330 tons, built in 1778 in Shields, with Forster H. Brown as Master, reached Pinette Harbour where the Collector of Customs, William Townsend, enumerated 115 passengers.
Coming from Oban, Argyllshire, arriving late in the season, her passengers spent the winter at Pinette, with provisions and in quarters provided by Selkirk, and in the spring, they moved onto the Wood Islands and Lot 62.
[56][57] The McMillan's (of Clan MacMillan) coming originally from Colonsay in Argyle, on The 'SPENCER' had thought to settle in Little Sands, however, after setting their fishing nets at Wood Islands and rewarded with a bountiful catch, they decided to make their homes there.
Of his son, Dunbar Douglas, 6th Earl of Selkirk, criticism came from the many factions in political engagement, with continuing questions of quit-rents, their fairness to tenants and of obligations of lot proprietorship.
Worried about the finances, and the progress of his settlement, even late into 1809, with large arrears of advances to settlers, as well as returns from sales of land and timber, for paying of his quit-rents, Selkirk had received no reports.
[63] An 1841 PEI census document reveals one valuable perspective on Dunbar Douglas, of his interest in continuing to settle Lot 62, that is not positive and infers progressive actions of the estate manager (William Douse) are all but missing.
In this township there are several poor families who only arrived on the Island last fall and who have not yet taken up any land, some of whom will most probably settle in some other parts of the country in consequence of the little encouragement held forth to them by the proprietor's agent.
In addition to numerous business engagements, Douse found the resources to become a landowner, in 1855, purchasing 14,000 acres from the 6th Earl, having negotiated his own price.
A self-serving endeavour, Douse acted seeing the rush to sell in the 1854 'private sale' of the Worrell Estate, perhaps to pre-empt later agitations to the Earl, and the 'attempting' of forced purchases by the government.
[65][66][67] With a lack of financial return, on considerable outlays, with indifferent tenants, some refusing to pay their rents, a 'distracted' estate manager, knowing of the Worrell sale, it was perhaps finally the tensions falling out of 'Land Purchase Act', that would cause the 6th Earl to consider selling his PEI holdings.
With the sale he was done with keeping on an agent, to collect small sums to be paid in a period extending for 10 to 20 more years, while perhaps continuing to not see profit from other commercial engagements.
In their interests, they have purchased numerous older farms in southern Kings and eastern Queens, to support a growing demand for vegetable organics.
[88][89] Since 1998, Mount Vernon has welcomed two large landowners: 'Wyman's (1998)' and "Braggs: Oxford Frozen Foods' – growing and processing wild low-bush blueberries, for export off Island.
The community, in addition to benefiting from the 'PEI Gateway East - Welcome Centre',[96] and the Northumberland Ferries Limited berths and terminal,[97] hosts: The Wood Islands Lighthouse;[98] a Confederation Trail Entryway at the ‘Welcome Centre;[99] Northumberland Provincial Park for overnight camping;[100] and Wood Islands Provincial Park, a day use playground.