The Hovendon family settled in Queen's County, now County Laois in Ireland, several hundred years ago. Nicholas Hovendon was a descendant of this family. Nicholas married Annie Budds, the daughter of Thomas & Catherine Budds of Timogue, Queens County. Nicholas and Annie Hovendon had several children who immigrated to Australia: William, Thomas, Mary and Arthur. In 1842, Thomas and his sister Mary Barnier arrived together with Mary's husband and children. They travelled on the Theresa which was besieged by a wave of illness that took the lives of 2 of Mary's children. In that same year, their brother William arrived in Australia.

Thomas and William Hovendon went into business on the coast in Victoria. William later operated the "Sydney Store" in Belfast, Port Fairy; he was working for Mr. Reeves. Thomas Hovendon bought the store from Mr. Reeves but left William to operate it. Thomas made an agreement that William could buy the store from him when money permitted. Thomas then started a career in shipping. He bought many vessels including the Squatter, the Harlequin, the Minerva (1847), the Will Watch, the Minerva (1812) and the Enchantress. He hired experienced men to help captain the ships and he transported goods and people from Portland and Port Fairy to Sydney, with all stops in between. He was constantly supplying goods for the store in Belfast and brought many settlers to the area.

Thomas suffered several shipwrecks along the coast at Port Fairy. His first ship, the Squatter, was wrecked on the reef at Port Fairy on the 21st May 1846. The crew and passengers were stranded on the deck of the ship which was being tossed about as it sat precariously on the rocks. At first light, the Griffith's whaling party came to the rescue of the sufferers and took them in to Belfast. In February 1849, the Minerva (1812) left Sydney. It suffered damage through violent weather on its way down the coast. On the 27th March 1849, during a particularly bad storm, the gunpowder caught fire. It exploded and the ship became engulfed in flames. It sunk somewhere between Cape Otway and Port Fairy. Thomas and the crew were adrift at sea for days with only a little water and some barracouta; which caused them all to be ill because of the toxin in that fish. They finally reached Port Phillip on the 30th March.

Despite these losses, Thomas had built up a good business and started a family. When in Sydney, Thomas docked his ships at Kellick's Wharf in Darling Harbour. The wharf was at the bottom of Margaret Place (now Margaret Street). Walter Soper had a cottage in Margaret Place, and his daughter Jane walked out of that cottage into the path of Thomas Hovendon. They fell in love and were to be together for life. Thomas' business ran into issues in late 1849 when insurance companies declared that all ships suffering damage in the area of Port Fairy would not be covered. Thomas and his creditors got anxious and Thomas bolted from Sydney on the Will Watch. He was chased up and down the coast by armed men and he fled to Tahiti. Arthur Hovendon had arrived in Australia in March 1849, he left on the Will Watch with his older brother. Thomas was forced into insolvency and, as a result, William also lost everything. On the 12th July 1850, William died in his home in Sackville street, Belfast, Port Fairy. He left a wife and 3 young children. Thomas left Australia whilst Jane was pregnant with their second child. That little girl, Emily, died as a toddler without ever meeting her father.

The creditors chased "Bolter Hovendon" to Tahiti and they took most of the assets that he had managed to escape with. Thomas then hitched a ride on a steamer to Valparaiso, Chile. After leaving Chile, Thomas and Arthur headed for Wisconsin. This is when the life of these two brothers changed dramatically. Thomas and Arthur adopted a new surname: Bunster. Thomas lived as Henry B. Bunster for many years before reverting to his birth name. Arthur kept the Bunster surname for the rest of his life. Henry B. Bunster started business in Janesville, Wisconsin. He speculated with land purchases and he opened the Janesville City Bank. Arthur Bunster came to join him and he also invested in real estate. It was in Janesville that Arthur started brewing ale and took his first steps into the political arena. Arthur was elected onto the local council and Henry became a Templar Knight. Arthur also met the love of his life, Alinda Jane Pratt. Alinda was the younger sister of Judge Orville Charles Pratt.

In April of 1855, Jane Hovendon took a long journey with her daughter Jennie. They sailed by the Telegraph from Sydney to Melbourne, then by the Lightning from Melbourne to London. They were accompanied on that journey by the retiring Wesleyan Minister Rev. Frederick Lewis and his family. Frederick Lewis had befriended the Soper family and had officiated at baptisms and weddings for them in the years before he went to his last posting in Geelong, Victoria. After spending a few months with family in England, Jane and her daughter then travelled by the Pacific from London to New York. They arrived in New York on the 3rd October 1855. It was lucky they took that particular trip because the Pacific sank on its very next journey to New York. They were safely reunited with Thomas in Wisconsin as the Bunster family.

After a few years, Janesville had become less profitable and business relationships fell apart. Henry had lent money to Abraham Hyatt Smith and it was not repaid. To try and recover the money, Henry and Arthur created and assigned some negotiable instruments but even these were not repaid. The famous case known as Croft vs Bunster et al, 9 Wis. 503 (1859), resulted in Smith having to finally repay the monies he borrowed. It was too late though, Arthur and Henry had lost too much money and had already started to move on.

Henry B. Bunster went to New York where he opened a liquor store and he patented some very clever inventions. The cigar bunching machine that he invented was later sold for what was said to be a tidy sum. He also became involved with some gangsters who cheated a cigar company out of about 600,000 cigars. He declared bankruptcy and went into hiding. Henry took his family to California where he reverted to his birth name of Thomas Hovendon. Thomas and Jane Hovendon ran a boarding hotel, and he also dabbled in real estate until his death.

After leaving Wisconsin, Arthur and Alinda Bunster went to Victoria, British Columbia. Arthur opened a brewery there and he developed that into a thriving business. Alinda and Arthur raised their family in the house next door to the brewery. After a few years he went into politics. Arthur spent 8 years as the popular and vocal Member for Vancouver. When he lost his seat in 1882, he went to California to be with his brother Thomas in the real estate business.

Some highlights of Arthur Bunster's political career: -
* Sworn in as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia on 5th January 1871.
* Introduced a Dower Bill to the Legislative Assembly session in April 1872. The intention of the Bill was to give a wife the rights to one third of the marital assets. This was so the assets could not be sold or mortgaged without her consent. The Bill was laughed off the floor with Arthur warning the members that one day women would have a say in politics.
* Elected as the Member for Vancouver in the Canadian Parliament on the 26th February 1874.
* Took a bag of wheat into Parliament on the 18th February 1875. The wheat had been grown by Mr. Robert Brown of Saanich. Mr Blake, the Member for South Bruce, had said British Columbia was nothing but a sea of inhospitable mountains. Arthur Bunster pointed to the wheat he had brought in and challenged Mr Blake to produce as fine a sample as that from South Bruce. He also invited Mr. Blake to come and see how wonderful British Columbia was.
* Taxes and tariffs - Arthur was frequently making speeches about how these impositions were hurting the businesses in British Columbia. In March 1877 he made a passionate speech about how the proposal to double the tax on malt would be a finanical burden on brewers.
* In April 1878, Arthur was offended by the behaviour of one member, Mr. Cheval, who played a monotonous mouth organ whenever other members got up to speak. Bunster invited Cheval outside and fisticuffs ensued. Newspaper reports were divided over who won and over whether it was crude or a lesson in manners.
* The Island Railroad - Arthur made many attempts to have the government extend the railway in his Province. There were reports in March of 1882 that he had formed a syndicate to have it privately funded because the government had yet to agree.
* After assisting some women to find shelter in Ottawa, the press accused him of bringing a harem to the capital city. It was one of a series of issues which saw him lose his seat in August 1882.

Arthur Bunster suffered a stroke on the 8th October 1891. He fell fully clothed into the sea off Meiggs Wharf in San Francisco. Thomas Hovendon must taken this very badly as his wife and daughter had also predeceased him. Thomas died on the 7th January 1892, only 3 months after his brother Arthur. Some of their life experiences were traumatic and some were painfully sad. Along the way there were also many humorous events. It is all covered in great detail in my book Bunster Hovendon.