This family traces its origin to Hugenot refugees who fled from France to England in 1685.  The name was originally Boyer and for some reason perhaps to hide them the "V" was added at the time of the move to England.  The family traces back to Stephen son of a Kentish mason and bricklayer who moved to Cheshire and married Dorothea Lowe some time in the 1740s.  She was the daughter of the Rev. Samuel Lowe, who was Vicar of Bunbury, near Tarporley from 1717 to 1742.  She was reputed to have brought considerable wealth to the marriage.

The Bovyer Family as compiled by Dr. Evelyn Simpson of Stanhope April 1981 

Dorothea Lowe Bovyer died in Rhode Island and one year later Stephen her husband, his sons and the wife  and five children of one of them (Stephen) moved to Prince Edward Island as "Loyalists from the American States" and
settled in Stanhope.  Stephen Sr. died in 1788 and is buried in Stanhope, Prince Edward Island Canada

In the War of Independence in America, the sympathies of Stephen Bovyer 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 Renoun 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 Bovyer of the occurence.

 Because of the loyalty to the British Crown, Stephen Bovyer and his family, (his wife Dorothea died in 1786), including his sons, Stephen, John, and Robert, and also Stephen's wife and five children, left their home at Providence, Rhode Island and in the year 1787 came to the Island of Saint John which later became P.E.I.
  
It is apparent from data available that Stephen Bovyer, 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 depature from Providence.  This property was located near the old Stanhope Road.  The Bovyer property on the Covehead Road was purchased by Mrs. Eliza Bovyer of a later generation.

"An Island Refuge by Benjamin Bremner

To return to earlier times, near the close of the Revolutionary War, Stephen Bovyer Sr. owned land near Boston Harbor.  He was ordered to use his oxen to haul cannon near the shore and to open fire on a ship of the Royal Navy, H.M.S.  Renown, which was standing off shore; Being a Loyalist (Torrie) he refused to do so.  Some years later during his short stay in Stanhope, he became very friendly with the Reverend Theophilus DesBrisay, the first Anglican clergyman on the Island, and told him this story.  On comparing dates, Mr. DesBrisay found he was serving as a naval chaplain on board the Renown on that occasion-an early example of the small world we live in. (same as the above)

rom a letter from katherine Bovyer's daughter  Helen Jones Dawson Katherine Bovyer was the daughter of Franklin Bovyer, Annie Bovyer's brother I took Stephens burial site from her letter dated Oct 4 1967

From a very old paper I do not know who wrote it I visited a very attractive Church in Bunbury CHeshire in the summer of 1958. There do not seem to be any records there at all relevant to the marriage of Stephan and Dorothy Lowe.  However as the Church suffered bomb damage during WW 11 it is difficult to be certain that its records ar intact.  The Vicar there undertook to find out what he could.  He produced the folling information on old church records and revealed that there were failies in the area which spelled their name variously as Bovyer Boyor Boyer Bowyer and bovyers.  Bovyer is a perfectly good English name.  Is their anything other then word of mouth to substantiate the Hugenot ancestry?  Eileen's note Yes If so then it was probably Bovyer orginally.  The Vicar discovered in the records at Taporaly near Bunbury the following marriages which he seemed to think might be relevant; John Boyor or er married M. Wilson 1703-John Bovyer married M. Wilbraham 1754.  The Vicar informed me that the Lowe family who are well known goldsmiths in Chester are interested in finding out more about their connections.
Fled from Rhode Island and went to St.John's Island they were known as Loyalists.They are written up in the book "An Island Refuge".

He was a brick layer and a mason