Contents [hide]

Bowes History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Canada Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Motto Citations

Bowes History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The illustrious surname Bowes is classified as a habitation surname, which was originally derived from a place-name, and is one form of surname belonging to a broader group called hereditary surnames. Habitation names were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Topographic names, form the other broad category of surnames that was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree.

Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came. Bowes is a place-name from in the village of Bowes in Durham. The place and the surname both are derived from the Old English word bogas, which meant "bend in the river" The village was renamed Bogas in 1148.

Another source claims " about the time of the Conqueror, there was a town (on the site of the Castle of Bowes), which the tradition of the family states, was burned. It then belonged to the Earls of Brittany and Richmond. The castle was built, as Mr. Horseley thinks, out of the ruins of the Roman Fortress, by Alan Niger, the second earl of that title, who, it is said, placed therein William, his relation, with five hundred archers to defend it against some insurgents in Cambridge and Westmorland confederated with the Scots, giving him for the device of his standard the arms of Brittany, with three bows and a bundle of arrows, whence both the castle and the commander derived their names; the former being called Bowes Castle, and the latter, William de Arcubus, or William Bowes." 1

Early Origins of the Bowes family

The surname Bowes was first found in Durham where they held a family seat as the Lords of Streatham Castle. "The family of Bowes held some lands [in Ingleton] under the Nevills, who possessed the greater part of the township as a member of Raby." 2

They were related to Alan Niger who was Duke of Brittany. His descendant Sir William Bowes was Captain of 500 archers and Governor of Bowes Castle, which was responsible for the defense of the Kingdom against the Scots. He was great, great grandfather of Sir Adam Bowes, Steward of Richmondshire, living in 1345.

Early History of the Bowes family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bowes research. Another 134 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1389, 1424, 1465, 1466, 1502, 1510, 1517, 1521, 1527, 1556, 1568, 1580, 1585, 1616, 1657, 1679, 1685, 1691, 1695, 1698, 1702, 1707, 1718, 1725, 1749, 1767 and 1800 are included under the topic Early Bowes History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bowes Spelling Variations

Since the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules, Breton surnames have many spelling variations. Latin and French, which were the official court languages, were also influential on the spelling of surnames. The spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules. Therefore, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England after the Norman Conquest, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. The name has been spelled Bows, Bow, Bowes, Bowe, Bough, Boughs and others.

Early Notables of the Bowes family

Notable of this family during the Middle Ages was

Sir William Bowes (1389-1465); and his son, Sir William Bowes (died 1466), Sheriff of Northumberland; and Sir William Bowes (1657-1707), an English landowner and politician, Member of Parliament for C...
Sir George Bowes (1517-1556), was Commander in Border warfare and was a posthumous son of Sir Ralph Bowes of Dalden, Streatlam, and South Cowton
Marmaduke Bowes (d. 1585), was a Catholic martyr, described as a substantial Yorkshire yeoman, of Angram Grange, near Appleton, in Cleveland. 3
Sir George Bowes (1527-1580), was a military commander, the son of Richard Bowes and Elizabeth Aske. 3
Elizabeth Bowes (1502?-1568), was a disciple of John Knox, and the daughter of Roger Aske, of Aske, Yorkshire. Her father died when she was a child, and she and her sister Anne were coheiresses of the...
Sir Jerome Bowes (d. 1616), was an English ambassador, "of a Durham family, 'sprung from John Bowes, who married Anne, daughter of Gunville of Gorleston in Suffolk, who bore the same arms as those of...

Bowes Ranking

In the United States, the name Bowes is the 6,240^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 4

Migration of the Bowes family to Ireland

Some of the Bowes family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 72 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bowes migration to the United States +

Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Bowes, or a variant listed above:

Bowes Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Jo Bowes, aged 20, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Assurance" 5
Katherin Bowes, aged 20, who landed in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Phillip" 5
Jane Bowes, who arrived in Maryland in 1655 5
John Bowes, who landed in Virginia in 1666 5
Henry Bowes, who arrived in Maryland in 1667 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bowes Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Edmd Bowes, who arrived in Virginia in 1714 5
Margaret Bowes, who settled in Maryland in 1723

Bowes Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

J. Bowes, who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1822
I Bowes, aged 31, who landed in America in 1822 5
John Bowes, who landed in New York in 1822 5
Francis Bowes, who arrived in New York in 1822 5
John Bowes, who landed in New York in 1824 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bowes migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Bowes Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

James Bowes Jr., who landed in Canada in 1821
James Bowes Sr., who arrived in Canada in 1821
Thomas Bowes, who arrived in Canada in 1821
John Bowes, who landed in Nava Scotia in 1831
Margaret Bowes, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1832
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bowes migration to Australia +

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

Bowes Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

William Bowes, English convict from York, who was transported aboard the "Albion" on September 21, 1826, settling in New South Wales, Australia 6
Mr. John Bowes, (b. 1814), aged 26, British Ploughman who was convicted in York, England for 15 years for forgery, transported aboard the "Asia" on 25th April 1840, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), he died in 1840 7
John Bowes, aged 39, who arrived in South Australia in 1849 aboard the ship "Indian" 8
John Bowes, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Indian" in 1849 8
Margaret Bowes, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Indian" in 1849 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bowes 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:

Bowes Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Jackson Bowes, aged 20, a carpenter, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" in 1842
Sarah Bowes, aged 35, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" in 1842
John Bowes, aged 3, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" in 1842
Thomas Bowes, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" in 1842
Dinah Bowes, aged 27, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Thomas Harrison" in 1842
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bowes migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 9

Bowes Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mr. John Bowes, (b. 1611), aged 23, British settler travelling from London, UK arriving in St Christopher (St. Kitts) on 5th January 1634 10

Contemporary Notables of the name Bowes (post 1700) +

Richard Dirrane Bowes (1944-2023), American author of science fiction and fantasy, winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella in 1998 and the Lambda Literary Award in 2000
Margie Marie Bowes (1941-2020), American country music singer popular in the late 1950s from Roxboro, North Carolina
Frederick Bowes Jr. (1908-1982), American executive, Vice President, International Pitney-Bowes Inc. Stamford Connecticut
Walter Harold Bowes, English-born, American entrepreneur who co-founded the Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company in 1920
Cliff Bowes (1894-1929), American comedic actor
Edward Bowes (1874-1946), American radio personality
Theodore F. Bowes, American politician, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, 1953-61 11
James A. Bowes, American politician, Mayor of North Adams, Massachusetts, 1947-51 11
Homer W. Bowes Sr., American Republican politician, Candidate for West Virginia State Senate 8th District, 1948 11
Henry W. Bowes, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from New York 29th District, 1896 11
... (Another 5 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Bowes family +

Halifax Explosion

Mrs. Blanche Bowes (1891-1917), Canadian resident from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who died in the Halifax Explosion (1917) 12

HMAS Sydney II

Mr. Keith Andrew Joseph Bowes (1922-1941), Australian Stoker from Tumblong, New South Wales, Australia, who sailed into battle aboard HMAS Sydney II and died in the sinking 13

HMS Royal Oak

Matthew Bowes, British Seaman with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he survived the sinking 14

The Bowes Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Quaerere verum
Motto Translation: To seek the truth.

Citations +

Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
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)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Albion voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1826 with 192 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/albion/1826
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 17th January 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/asia/1840
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The INDIAN 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Indian.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 23) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Halifax Explosion Book of Remembrance | Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. (Retrieved 2014, June 23) . Retrieved from https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosion/halifax-explosion-book-remembrance
HMAS Sydney II, Finding Sydney Foundation - Roll of Honour. (Retrieved 2014, April 24) . Retrieved from http://www.findingsydney.com/roll.asp
Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html