The earliest owner of the Mockbeggar Property that has been identified was Joseph White of Poole (1685-1771). He carried a diversified business related to codfishing, salmon, and seal fisheries, ship building, and trading between Newfoundland, Ireland, New England and the West Indies. On his death, the plantation was passed to his nephew Samuel White but it is probable that it was used by the important Trinity firm of Jeffrey and Street, which took over most of Joseph White's Newfoundland properties.

Here is a list of all owners of the plantation in the following years:

• Samuel Rolles (nephew of Samuel White) - inherited in 1797
• George Garland (1753-1825) - inherited in 1802
• James Saint (1806-1873) - bought from Garland in 1851
• Jabez Saint (1833-1903) - inherited in 1873
• Baine, Johnston and Company of St. John's - due to bankruptcy of Jabez Saint in 1880
• Anne Snelgrove of Catalina - bought from Baine, Johnston and Co. in 1898
• Ethel Louise Roper (1890-1971) - inherited in 1935
• John and Gord Jr. Bradley - inherited in 1971
• Provincial Government - donated in 1980

Jabez Saint inherited the Mockbeggar Property from his father when his brother (James Jr.) showed no interest in the business. It was during this time when the house that presently stands there was built, probably in the year 1873. Seven years later, Saint was forced into bankruptcy but continued to live there until his death despite the fact that the plantation's ownership changed hands twice.

In 1935, the house became the sole property of Ethel Louise Roper after her mother, Anne Snelgrove's death. She moved into the house in 1939 with her husband F. Gordon Bradley (1888-1966) whom she had married in 1923. Her sons inherited the property after her death in 1971 but soon donated it to the Provincial Government in 1980. Today, the house and property have become a provincial historic site.

One of the most historic events occurred at the Mockbeggar house in March of 1946 that may have set the course for Newfoundland's history. Gordon Bradley and Joseph R. Smallwood met for 24 hours to discuss their roles in the upcoming referendum about what form of government should rule Newfoundland. It was at this meeting that both men decided that they would work together to bring about confederation. It was also agreed that if confederation occurred, Bradley would join the federal cabinet while Smallwood would become the provincial premier.

Frederick Gordon Bradley

From 1906-1909, F. Gordon Bradley taught at the Methodist school in Bonavista. Here, he met Ethel Louise Roper who became his wife in 1923. He was a lawyer and Liberal politician, a close ally of Sir Richard Squires, and a member of his cabinet (1928-1932).

In 1935, Bradley decided to leave St. John's and politics and accept what had been his father-in- law's position: the magistracy at Bonavista. That year, he started a business called the Bonavista Mutual Traders where it sold groceries, dry goods, purchased and exported saltfish, salmon and berries.

After the war, Bradley sold his business to Bonavista Cold Storage Ltd. and reentered politics. He was elected to the Newfoundland National Convention in 1946, representing the district of Bonavista East. It was at this time when Britain was contemplating which form of government should rule the province. Bradley and his acquaintance, Joseph R. Smallwood lobbied for Newfoundland to join the Canadian confederation. The men held a 24-hour meeting around March 1946 at the Mockbeggar house where they agreed they would work together to bring about confederation. Smallwood would play the open, public role while Bradley would be the strategist and provide moral respectability to the confederate leadership. If confederation occurred, it was agreed that Bradley would join the federal cabinet and Smallwood would become the provincial premier. Bradley's role in the events that followed has been largely overshadowed by the more colorful Smallwood. There can be no doubt however that Bradley played an important and influential role in the drive for confederation.

On April 1, 1949, Bradley was sworn in the St. Laurent cabinet as Secretary of State and became the Liberal MP for the federal district of Bonavista-Twillingate in June 1949. He resigned as Secretary of State in 1953 and accepted a seat in the Senate. He moved to Ottawa in 1949 where he spent most of his time until his death in 1966. After his death, his wife lived in the Mockbeggar house until her death in 1971. In 1980, her sons gave the property to the provincial government and it is now a provincial historic site.

"The profits of the industry should go to the producer. The producer in Newfoundland is the fisherman and therefore the profits of that production should go to the fisherman. He is the one who in the past has seldom if ever got any of the profits . . . He was given a bare crust of bread while the Water Street merchant pilfered the jam. It is time we took the jam pot away from them . . . My plea today is for action - action on behalf of the populace. I am not usually of a gambling tendency, but the situation today is that Newfoundland has nothing to lose and everything to gain, and if I were Prime Minister I would risk everything to try and encourage the producers . . . with a view to bringing this country out of the condition she is now in, and to bring her back to prosperity again. This is not time for the playing of party politics. There will be lots of time for the playing of that game again . . . "

Exert from a speech by F. Gordon Bradley
House of Assembly debates, 9 and 10 May, 1933