John Maxwell

Born in Belfast, Ireland in 1835, he died 4th Sept, 1887. He left Ireland when he was 19 years old and went first to the United States, he traveled from Pittsburgh to California with the gold rush and then to the gold rush in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, where he was one of the more successful prospectors. John and his partner James Lunney bought a schooner and wintered in and around the Gulf Islands. They settled in the Burgoyne Bay area around 1860 and established a cattle ranch, importing Texas Longhorns from Oregon. John Maxwell had a native wife, Mary and James Lunney remained a bachelor. John and Mary had seven children, John Jr., James, Samuel, Richard, David, Mary and Eliza. John’s wife Mary left the family home and went to live on the Cowichan Reserve. She died Jan 13, 1914 and is buried at the Duncan Native Cemetery. There are no known pictures of her.