Thomas Burnard
"In the long run he did more than anyone else to firmly establish the shipbuilding industry on Prince Edward Island, and this was to have a great effect on the Island's prosperity"1. Thomas Burnard sent the "Four Friends" to collect a lumber shipment at the time of the Napoleons 'Treaty of Tilist' and established first direct contact with PEI and North Devon, England.His first venture to build a shipbuilding industry on settlement in New Bideford was managed by his nephew Thomas Burnard Chanter. The schooner "The Peter and Sarah" sailed with master shipwright William Ellis in its bellows. Later, James Yeo was sent to take care of lumber stocks and horses.
These three men would prove to be the most prominent personalities of the shipbuilding era on PEI. All were created indirectly by the "Merchant Prince" of England, Thomas Burnard. "It is difficult to estimate how many permanent settlers had come as a result of Thomas Burnard."1
1. Greenhill, Basil & Ann Giffard. "West Countrymen in Prince Edward's Isle".