 In addition, according to geographer Wilfrid Bertile, some owners, usually making multiple transactions, were able to merge several properties and so form large domains that encompassed key parts of the island's land.In the second half of the 19th century, land concentration became extreme, to the benefit of a handful of private owners like the Kerveguens and of the several banks, such as Crédit Foncier.These squires, whether private or institutional, thus gained thousands, indeed tens of thousands of hectares.