Contents [hide]

Bowles History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Bowles History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Bowles reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Bowles family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Bowles family lived in Lincolnshire. The name, however, is a reference to the family's former residence in Bouelles, near Neufchatel, in Normandy. 1

The Domesday Book "presents us with two tenants in chief called Bolle and Bollo, the former in Hants, and the latter in Dorset. Bouelles is the name of a place near Neufchatel in Normandy. " 2

However, two junior sources claim the name is a trade name for "one who made or sold concave vessels or bowls." 3 4

And one source claims the name was "probably from the sign of an inn, as 'John at the Bowl,' i. e., at the sign of the bowl." 5

Early Origins of the Bowles family

The surname Bowles was first found in Lincolnshire where they settled after the Norman Conquest. They were originally from Bouelles, near Neufchatel in Normandy where it was listed under the spellings Bowles or Buelles. 1

"Bowles is an old Wiltshire name. The most influential families bearing this name are said to have come from Bristol during the 15th century. In the following century they were resident in Burcombe, and during the 18th century they supplied sheriffs and members of parliament for the county." 6

Entries in early rolls were scarce, but we did find: John de Boweles in the Feet of Fines for Huntingdonshire in 1292. 7

Early History of the Bowles family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bowles research. Another 100 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1613, 1619, 1637, 1644, 1645, 1652, 1661, 1662, 1663, 1669, 1690, 1696, 1702, 1714, 1722, 1728, 1742, 1762, 1773, 1786 and 1850 are included under the topic Early Bowles History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bowles Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Bowles, Bolles, Boles, Bowls, Boals and others.

Early Notables of the Bowles family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Edward Bowles (1613-1662), an English Presbyterian minister from Sutton, Bedfordshire. His father, Oliver Bowles, B.D., minister of Sutton, was one of the oldest members of the Westminster Assembly. B...
Phineas Bowles (died 1722), was an English army major-general and John Bowle or Bowles (d. 1637), was Bishop of Rochester, a native of Lancashire and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. 8
William Lisle Bowles (1762-1850) was an English priest, poet and critic. He was born at King's Sutton, Northamptonshire where he came from a line of Church of England clergymen. His great-grandfather...

Bowles Ranking

In the United States, the name Bowles is the 1,419^th most popular surname with an estimated 22,383 people with that name. 9

Migration of the Bowles family to Ireland

Some of the Bowles family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bowles migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Bowles name or one of its variants:

Bowles Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Bowles, who settled in New England in 1630
Thomas Bowles, who settled in Virginia in 1630
Geo Bowles, who landed in Virginia in 1636 10
Edward Bowles, who arrived in Maryland in 1650 10
Elizabeth Bowles, who arrived in Maryland in 1650 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bowles Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Anne Bowles, who arrived in Virginia in 1704 10
Pallister Bowles, who landed in Virginia in 1713 10
Isabella Bowles, who landed in Virginia in 1714 10
James Bowles, who arrived in Maryland in 1729 10

Bowles Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Mrs. H Bowles, who arrived in New York, NY in 1810 10
W A Bowles, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 10

Bowles migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Bowles Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

William Bowles, who arrived in Anapolis (Annapolis), Nova Scotia in 1760

Bowles Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Mr. John Bowles, aged 2 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Lotus" departing 15th April 1847 from Liverpool, England; the ship arrived on 24th June 1847 but he died on board 11

Bowles migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Bowles Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Nathaniel Bowles, (b. 1804), aged 17, English brass founder who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for life for house breaking, transported aboard the "Claudine" on 20th May 1821, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 12
Mr. Thomas Bowles, English convict who was convicted in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Caledonia" in 19th June 1822, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 13
Mr. John Bowles, English convict who was convicted in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England for life, transported aboard the "Blenheim" on 11th March 1837, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 14
Miss Eliza Bowles, (b. 1819), aged 18, Irish maid who was convicted in Limerick, Ireland for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Diamond" on 29th November 1837, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 15
Mr. Thomas Bowles, British Convict who was convicted in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Asiatic" on 26th May 1843, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 16
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bowles migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Bowles Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Jesse Bowles, aged 42, a labourer, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "New Era" in 1855
Margaret Bowles, aged 33, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "New Era" in 1855
George Bowles, aged 12, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "New Era" in 1855
John Bowles, aged 10, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "New Era" in 1855
Frederick Bowles, aged 8, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "New Era" in 1855
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Bowles (post 1700) +

Erskine Boyce Bowles (b. 1945), American businessman and politician, Chairperson of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (2010)
Paul Frederic Bowles (1910-1999), American composer, author, and translator, best known for his first novel The Sheltering Sky (1949)
Brian Christopher Bowles (b. 1976), American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher
William Augustus "Estajoca" Bowles (1763-1805), American-English adventurer and organizer of Native American attempts to create their own state
Chester Bowles, American Diplomat and politician, Governor of Connecticut in 1948, Ambassador to India (1951-53)
Samuel Bowles, American newspaper editor
Jane Bowles (1917-1973), American writer and playwright
Chester Bliss Bowles (1901-1986), American Democratic Party politician, Governor of Connecticut, 1949-51; U.S. Ambassador to India, 1951-53, 1963-69; Nepal, 1951-53 17
Charles E. Bowles (1884-1957), American Republican politician, Mayor of Detroit, Michigan, 1930; Candidate for U.S. Representative from Michigan 15th District, 1932, 1934; Candidate for Circuit Judge in Michigan 3rd Circuit, 1941 17
Carl H. Bowles, American Republican politician, Member of Kentucky State House of Representatives, 1968-69, 1974-75 17
... (Another 36 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 65)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 17th February 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/claudine
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 30th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/caledonia
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 15th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/blenheim
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 1st July 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/Diamond
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 14th July 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/asiatic
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 16) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html