The ancestors of the Newfoundland pony arrived in Newfoundland from the British Isles, brought there by settlers between 1611 and the mid-1900s. Dartmoor ponies formed the initial shipment, imported by John Guy, the first Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland. Lord Falkland imported additional animals soon after, and these were followed by a spate of pony shipments from England, Ireland and Scotland. Additional breeds found in the shipments included the now-extinct Galloway pony, as well as Connemara, Dartmoor, Exmoor, Fell, Highland and New Forest ponies. Beginning with the first imports, the breeds crossbred, eventually forming the modern Newfoundland pony.