Richard Bonython was the co-patentee of Saco, York County Maine. His daughters contributed to the founding of many families of note of northern New England: through the Cummings match, to Harmon, Banks, Longfellow, and Bragdon lineages in one case; and in the Foxwell match, to Thornton, Libby, Cutts and Thaxter lineages in the other case. For those of you who might have any of these families in your background, the following was taken from the NEHGR, Volume 38 [January 1884] pp.50,51, "The Bonython Family of Maine" by Dr. Charles E. Banks The name of Bonython is one of the most ancient and aristocratic in the county of Cornwall. Its antiquity is shown in the records which tell us that they were in possession of the Bonython Manor continuously from the 14th century to the beginning of the 18th century, and the social position of the family is certified by their intermarriage with the leading families of Cornwall for four centuries. The pronunciation of the name is made by accenting the second syllable and rhyming it with "python", as "Bo-ny'-thon". It means a furzy abode. The Bonythons were seated in the Lizard district of Cornwall, in the parish of Cury (where subsidies had been paid on the manor since 15 Henry VIII [1524]), a bleak wild track on the serpentine formation, and not withstanding their remote situation, they were conspicuous figures in the political agitations of the period which culminated in the stormy days of the Stuart dynasty. Several branches issued from the parent stock, the most opulent of which, through a fortunate marriage, became possessed of Carelew, in Mylor, and is designated as the Bonythons of Carelew to distinguish them from the elder house which held the ancient manor. Another branch of the family was seated in Tresadem in St. Columb Major. [While Mylor and St. Columb Major still exist in the 21st Century, the Lizzard district does not: it probably was incorporated into what is now Helston.] Bonython manor is a plain substantial building with a granite front, facing the sea, which it overlooks at a distance of about two miles by the valleys of Poljew and Gunwalloe. The view from the front of the house is a most extensive one, unusually so, as most of the ancient Cornish houses are built quite on the side of the hill or in the valley. On the lower part of the estate, in a small plantation, is a group of magnificent rocks, the grandeur of which strikes the beholder at first glance. One of these -- the topmost -- is named the Fire or Bonfire rock, and is probably a relic of the Druidic religion. I have checked out a number of Bonython sources in popular CD's and on websites. In my humble opinion, most (if not all) are rooted in the Banks article without attribution, and have introduced errors of all sorts. It would be better to go back to the source, as I did, and start over.