Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Occupation: Ostrich farmer

Notes:

Bourchier Bowker was one of the pioneers in the development of ostrich farming and farmed in partnership with the late Hon.Arthur Douglas M.L.A.at Southey's Hoek on the Fish River



Died:
DEPOT KAB
SOURCE MOOC
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 6/9/294
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 1114
PART 1
DESCRIPTION BOWKER, BOURCHIER. DEATH NOTICE.
STARTING 18910000
ENDING 18910000

DEATH NOTICE:
MOOC 6/9/294 R1114
Name of Deceased: Bouchier BOWKER
Place of Birth: Grahamstown, Cape of Good Hope
Names of Parents: Father: John Mitford BOWKER
Mother: Mary Anne BOWKER
Age of Deceased 46 years 3 months
Married
Name of Surviving Spouse: Charlotte Jemima HILLIER
Condition in Life: Farmer
Name of Pre-Deceased Spouse and approximate Date of Death: Jane DUTHIE 22 August 1884
Date of Death: 24 May 1891
Place of Death: Grahamstown Hospital, Grahamstown
Names of Children and whether Major or Minor:
Jane Caroline BOWKER (From First Marriage)
Thomas Bouchier BOWKER (From Second Marriage)
Reginald Bouchier BOWKER (From Second Marriage)
Whether deceased has left any property, and of what kind: Movable & Immovable
Signed: C.M. BOWKER, Surviving Spouse

Bourchier married Charlotte Jemima Hallier on 19 Apr 1888 in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Charlotte was born after 1854; died on 6 Mar 1928; was buried in Signal Kop farm cemetery, Carlisle Bridge, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

19 Apr 1888
1888, April 19
Bourchier Bowker
aged: Full, Widower
Farmer
residence: Signal Kop Albany
and
Charlotte Jemima Hallier
aged: Minor, Spinster, Magistrate
residence: Signal Kop Albany
married by Banns by Robert J. Mullins
groom signature: Bourchier Bowker
bride signature: Charlotte Jemima Hallier
witnessed by: J.K.B. Hallier, Alice E Hallier
Transcriber remarks: Minister's name unclear
Source: Grahamstown - Christchurch (Anglican), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. marriage register, 1879-1904, page 41, entry no 79. Repository: Cory Library, MS 17 631/1.

Married:
19 Apr 1888
1888, April 19
Bourchier Bowker
aged: Full, Widower
Farmer
residence: Signal Kop Albany
and
Charlotte Jemima Hallier
aged: Minor, Spinster, Magistrate
residence: Signal Kop Albany
married by Banns by Robert J. Mullins
groom signature: Bourchier Bowker
bride signature: Charlotte Jemima Hallier
witnessed by: J.K.B. Hallier, Alice E Hallier
Transcriber remarks: Minister's name unclear
Source: Grahamstown - Christchurch (Anglican), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. marriage register, 1879-1904, page 41, entry no 79. Repository: Cory Library, MS 17 631/1. Transcribed by Eileen de Jager and Fay Lea as part of the eGGSA Project, from photographs by William Jervois

1. Thomas Bourchier Bowker, Hon. Dr. LLB., M.P. was born on 28 Sep 1889 in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 21 Jul 1964 in Bedford Hospital, Bedford, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Name: John Mitford Bowker
• Baptism: 6 May 1801, Mitford Church, Mitford, Northumberland, England
• Baptism: 4 Oct 1813, Parish Church of Saint Mary, Almer, Dorset, England
• Residence: 1816, 'Manor Farm', South Newton, Wiltshire, England
• Residence: 1816, Manor Farm, South Newton, Wiltshire, England

Notes:

John Mitford remained in England while he tied up his dad's affairs and only went out to South Africa 2 years later than the rest of the family, so he was not classified as an 1820 Settler.
~~~~~~
BOWKER, John Mitford, 1820
Written by .

National Archives, Kew, CO48/52, 58

Mr. Miles BOWKER late resident of South Newton near Salisbury in the County of Wilts with his party Embarked on board the Weymouth Store Ship the latter end of December last (1819) for the new settlement at the Cape of Good Hope sanctioned by His Majesty's Government. – John Mitford BOWKER of South Newton aforesaid aged 20 years and son of Miles BOWKER being one of the party is desirous to proceed to his Father at the Cape Settlement without delay and he most respectfully begs that Earl BATHURST His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonial Department will give the necessary instructions for him to proceed forthwith to the said Colony.

[Note from clerk on reverse]

Lord PEMBROKE called here to enquire whether Mr. BOWKER would be provided with a passage to the Cape. The Sir George Osborn was at Deptford on Saturday and the Navy Office say that if the passage is ordered immediately BOWKER can go on board.

Footnote from GOULBURN

Mr GOULBURN's complts and there is no longer any prospect of forwarding BOWKER.

7 March

The Lower Albany Chronicles state that John had arrived at Oliveburn on 31 December 1822.

Comment by PaulTT. It has been claimed that younger brother Bertram also stayed behind and only went to SA with John in 1822, yet the letter above has no mention of him. Bertram does feature in the Settler Returns, ie manifest, of the Weymouth as having gone to SA with his parents in 1820.
~~~~~

He took part in the campaign against the M'fecani in 1828 and served as Lieutenant, 1st battalion Provisional Colonial Infantry in the war of 1834-1835, being appointed Resident Agent with the Fingo Settlement near Fort Peddie. He was signatory to the Treaty with the Gaika Chiefs at King William's Town in 1836. In the war of 1846-1847 he was Commandant, Lower Koonap River Burghers and Field-Cornet, Fish River in 1847. .

He was a member of the 1828 expedition party into Kaffirland, described in Harold Edward Hockly's book, 'The Story of the British Settlers of 1820 in South Africa', on pages 117 and 118. " About the middle of the following year, 1828, news was received that Chaka's Zulus ( or the Fetcani), were again threatening to overrun Kaffirland, and once again the Kaffirs prepared for a wholesale migration into the Colony for protection. A small volunteer force of fifty men under Major Dundas was immediately despatched into Kaffirland to investigate the position, to persuade the Zulus or Fetcani, (whichever the raiders turned out to be), to retire, and if necessary, drive them back. Settlers who were members of this small expedition were J.M., W.M., and B.E. Bowker, James and John Cawood, W.Biddulph, C.Baillie, T.Foxcroft, Thomas Pullen and E.Phillips. Together with a body of friendly kaffirs, they advanced as far as the Bashee River without coming into contact with the enemy. With half a dozen of the settlers just named, Dundas then rode into Pondoland to make further reconnaissances: there they saw the ruin and desolation caused by the invaders (who turned out to be Fetcani, not Zulus), and narrowly escaped coming into conflict with them. After this small scouting party had again rejoined the main body, Dundas's force moved into Temboland, where they again saw the evidence of the terrible havoc wrought by the Fetcani. near the Umtata River, the opposing forces at last met, the Fetcani being defeated after a short but sharp encounter. On the return of the expedition to the Colony after an abscence of seven weeks, Col. Henry Somerset led a large and well equiped force into Kaffirland which overtook the Fetcani at the Kei River, defeated them in a decisive battle, and drove them back." . Distinguished himself in action in the Sixth Kaffir War in 1835, and became a Government Agent with the Fingoes after this war - Fort Peddie 1835. He died during the Seventh War.

Cape Frontier Times - June 1847:
THE LATE MR. JOHN MITFORD BOWKER
21st April 1847
To the Editor: Sir, I and two or three agriculturalists accidentally met the other day when each seemed more than another to deplore the loss of our valued countryman John Mitford BOWKER Esq.JP. We asked one another why such an eminently bold, fearless and honest advocate of colonial interests did not merit a testimonial of his countrymens’ esteem. At once we agreed that the erection of a Monument to his remains was the smallest tribute we could render to the memory of a true patriot and British subject, whose acts as a colonist must be embalmed while the history of our country exists. We have determined to enter into a Subscription to erect a Monument to record our sense of his moral worth, and we trust that the mere mention of such an intention will be sufficient to call forth general approbation among the Frontier inhabitants.
A. FARMER

John Mitford Bowker 13 Apr 1801 - 14 Apr 1847
'.. farmer and government agent, was the eldest son of Miles Bowker, leader of a party of 1820 Settlers, and his wife, Anna maria Mitford. Bowker did not accompany the family to the Cape but remained in England to settle family affairs and joined his parents only in 1822. He saw active service in the Sixth Frontier War (1834-5) and was specially mentioned for his bravery. He was subsequently appointed government agent to the Fingo people settled in the neighbourhood of Fort Peddie and to other tribes living adjacent to the frontier. In 1839 he was removed from this office because his administrative methods met with official disapproval, and he was moreover an implacable critic of the Stockenström treaty system under which he operated. .. In 1841 he became a sheep farmer at Willow Fountain, Fish River Rand, and being like other frontier farmers subjected to raids by Xhosa tribesmen he championed the cause of the White landowners on the frontier. In a series of speeches he criticised both the philanthropic ideas of the missionaries and the frontier policy of the government, and supported White farmers in their claim for more land and protection against cattle thieving by the Xhosa. His words were bitter and incisive, and in 1844, in a speech dubbed by W. Porter the Attorney General as the 'springbok speech', he drew a comparison between the Xhosa and a mustering of springbok in time of drought. .. When the Seventh Frontier War (War of the Axe, 1846-7) broke out most of the Bowker family went into lager at Thornkloof, the farm of Miles Bowker, but were forced to withdraw. Bowker left his family in safety on his brother Robert Bowker's farm near Somerset East and joined the burgher force mustered under Sir Andries Stockenström. .. His farm was in ruins, and it was while camping in a stable on the farm of his brother Bertram at Oakwell, near Grahamstown, that he caught pneumonia and died there at the age of forty-six. .. An anthology of Bowker's Speeches, letters and selections from important papers was compiled by his widow and in 1864 published in Grahamstown. They give valuable insight into the mind of a White frontier farmer during a turbulent period of frontier history.' (Dictionary of South African biography, Vol. III, pp. 94-5.) [(Pietermaritzburg), KZN, South Africa]


Baptism:
Parish of Almer
BAPTISMS 1731 - 1879
These records have been transcribed from the Bishop's Transcripts.

Died:
DEPOT KAB
SOURCE MOOC
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 6/9/42
SYSTEM 00
REFERENCE 8947
PART 1
DESCRIPTION BOWKER, JOHN MITFORD. DEATH NOTICE.
STARTING 1847
ENDING 1847

MOOC 6/9/42 R8947
DEATH NOTICE:
Name of Deceased: John Mitford BOWKER
Place of Birth: England
Names of Parents: Miles BOWKER
Anna Maria BOWKER
Age of Deceased: 45 years
Condition in Life: Farmer
Married:
Name of Surviving Spouse: Mary Ann STANDEN
Date of Death: 11 April 1847
Place of Death: Palmietfontein, Albany, Cape of Good Hope
Names of Children:
Duncan Campbell BOWKER
John Mitford BOWKER
Thomas BOWKER
Miles Bouchier BOWKER
Mary Ann BOWKER
Signed by W.M. BOWKER, Brother.

MOOC 6/9/42 R8947
DEATH NOTICE:
Name of Deceased: John Mitford BOWKER
Place of Birth: England
Names of Parents: Miles BOWKER
Anna Maria BOWKER
Age of Deceased: 45 years
Condition in Life: Farmer
Married:
Name of Surviving Spouse: Mary Ann STANDEN
Date of Death: 11 April 1847
Place of Death: Palmietfontein, Albany, Cape of Good Hope
Names of Children:
Duncan Campbell BOWKER
John Mitford BOWKER
Thomas BOWKER
Miles Bouchier BOWKER
Mary Ann BOWKER
Signed by W.M. BOWKER, Brother.

John married Mary Anne Standen on 26 Apr 1837 in Grahamstown Church (St George's - Anglican), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Mary was born in 1814 in Hammersmith, London, England; died on 25 Dec 1893 in Signal Hill, Albany, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Riebeeck East, Eastern Cape, South Africa; a Farmer

Notes:

Died:
DEPOT KAB
SOURCE MOOC
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 6/9/330
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 1493
PART 1
DESCRIPTION BOWKER, MARY ANNE. NEE STANDEN. DEATH NOTICE.
STARTING 18940000
ENDING 18940000

DEATH NOTICE:
MOOC 6/9/330 R1493
Name of Deceased: Mary Ann STANDEN
Place of Birth: Hammersmith, London
Names of Parents: Thomas STANDEN & Mary Ann STANDEN
Age of Deceased: 79 years
Widow
Predeceased Spouse: John Mitford BOWKER Died May 1847
Date of Death: 25 December 1893
Place of Death: Signal Hill, Albany
Names of Children:
Duncan Campbell BOWKER
John Mitford BOWKER
Miles BOWKER
Mary Ann BOWKER married BOWKER
Signed D.C. BOWKER, Son.

Notes:

Grahamstown Journal, April 1837:
Married on Wednesday 26th inst by the Rev.John HEAVYSIDE, John Mitford BOUKER Esq of Fort Peddie to Mary Anne, eldest daughter of Mr.STANDEN, Graham's Town.

Married:
Description: Rev John Heavyside

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Miles Bowker 1820
• Occupation: a Gentleman Farmer
• Baptism: 19 Sep 1758, All Saint's, Newcastle on Tyne, Northumberland, England
• Residence: 1800, Deckhams Hall, Gateshead, Durham, England
• Residence: 1808, Charborough Park, West Almer, Dorsetshire, England
• Residence: 1817, 'Manor Farm', South Newton, Wiltshire, England
• 1820 Settler: 7 Jan 1820, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England; Address:
  Bowker's Party on the Weymouth
• Residence: Jun 1820, 'Oliveburn', Kleinemonde, Eastern Cape, South Africa
• Residence: 1833, Tharfield farm, Kleinemonde, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Notes:

Miles Bowker was born at Deckhams Hall in Gateshead.



Died:
DEPOT KAB
SOURCE MOOC
TYPE ANDER ARGIEWE
VOLUME_NO 6/9/15
SYSTEM 00
REFERENCE 3398
PART 1
DESCRIPTION BOWKER, MILES. DEATH NOTICE.
STARTING 1839
ENDING 1839

Miles married Anna Maria Mitford on 8 Mar 1800 in Morpeth, Northumberland, England. Anna (daughter of Capt. John Mitford and Dorothy Young) was born in 1782 in Mitford Manor, Mitford, Northumberland, England; died on 8 Jul 1868 in 'Kruisfontein', Alexandria, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in 1868 in Tharfield farm, Kleinemonde, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Anna Maria Mitford 1820
• Residence: 1816, 'Manor Farm', South Newton, Wiltshire, England
• 1820 Settler: 7 Jan 1820, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England; Address:
  Bowker's Party on the Weymouth

Notes:

Anna Maria was born at Mitford Manor in the village of Mitford, Northumberland in 1782.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 21 Oct 1726, Holy Trinity, Salford, Lancashire, England

Notes:

Ivan Mitford-Barberton's research show that Thomas' parents were Thomas Bowker and Elizabeth Brabbin.

PaulTT has found a marriage in Wigan of a Joseph Bowker marrying Elizabeth Brabbin, both of Manchester.
His death is recorded as being in Morpeth, and father being Joseph Bowker.
Name: Thos. Bowker
Gender: Male
Age: 72
Birth Date: 1726
Death Date: 3 Sep 1798
Burial Date: 5 Sep 1798
Burial Place: Morpeth Parish, Northumberland, England
Father: Joseph Bowker
FHL Film Number: 1469099
Reference ID: P. 7 No. 60
Therefore, Thomas' father was the Joseph Bowker who married Elizabeth Brabbin!

Thomas inherited Deckham Hall from his uncle John Bowker, who had purchased it in 1720..

Advertisement in the 'Newcastle Courant' May 27th 1809:
"DECKHAM'S HALL. To be sold by private contract, called Deckham's Hall, otherwise Mitford House...."

William James purchased 'Deckham's Hall' (otherwise Mitford House) in May 1817 for the sum of £7,100.
A.R.P.
Hall, Gardens & Orchard1" - 8" formerly in the occupation of J. Collins viewer (afterwards of Thomas Bowker & late of Wooler.)
Close adjoining 8. 3. 9
4 nooked close 18. 0.27
& 2 pieces of Gard held of Dean & Chapter of Durham on Lease, but afterwards made Freehold by said G. Wooler.
Dwelling house adjoining....formerly William Row Millright (afterwards Bowker)

Thomas married Dorothy Falconer Monkhouse on 16 Jul 1754 in Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland, England. Dorothy was born about 1725 in Bloan, Westmorland, England; died on 12 Sep 1810 in Walton, Near Morpeth, Northumberland, England; was buried on 15 Sep 1810 in Morpeth, Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: John (Capt) Mitford
• Residence: Mitford Castle, Mitford, Northumberland, England

Notes:

Captain in the 85th Foot Regiment. Eventually became the Mitford heir.

John married Dorothy Young. Dorothy was born est 1755 in Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Joseph Bouker
• Occupation: Chapman
• Baptism: 25 Apr 1703, St Mary, St Denys and St George, Manchester, Lancashire, England

Notes:

Alternate parents of Thomas Bowker
Three possible Josephs:
1. b 25.4.1703 Manchester father Thomas
2. b 7 Nov 1702 Cromsall father Robert, siblings James and Peter - no
3. b 30.4.1704 Croston father John - Croston is too far from manchester

Joseph was Miles Bowker's grandfather! No question about it, from the death report of his father Thomas b 1726.

Joseph's father was Thomas b 1666 and mother Judith Scofield. See the baptism records of John b 1697, Houldon b 1701, Joseph b 1703 and Benjamin 1707. All 4 say their father was Thomas Bowker junior!

Joseph's occupation of Chapman : By 1600, the word chapman had come to be applied to an itinerant dealer in particular, but it remained in use for "customer, buyer" as well as "merchant" in the 17th and 18th centuries. The slang term for man, "chap" arose from the use of the abbreviated word to mean a customer, one with whom to bargain.
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Chapman_(occupation)

Merchant - in the 17/18c, before the advent of factories, a Chapman would invest in the raw materials of the cotton, woolen or silk trade, put out the work to spinners and weavers at home on piece-rates, and sell the product for profit

Joseph married Elizabeth Brabbin on 4 Nov 1725 in Wigan Parish (By Licence). Elizabeth (daughter of Thomas Brabbin and Judith) died in 1775. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: Lancashire, England

Notes:

potential birth and christening at FamilySeearch.org
"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3Z5-9VS : accessed 1 August 2015), Elizabeth Brabin, 01 Mar 1688; citing DEANE BY BOLTON,LANCASHIRE,ENGLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 844,816.
father John Brabin.
PaulTT: I do not think that this is correct. If Elizabeth was born in 1688, she would have been 39 when marrying, and over 40 when having her children!

Notes:

Robert Mitford of Mitford Castle married Ann Lewis of Jamaica. Issue: Bertram, John, William Henry, Anna, Mary, and 18 other children who died young! He was a Major in the Army, and a candidate for Parliament at Leicester.

Robert married Ann Lewis about 1744 in Mitford, Northumberland, England. Ann (daughter of John Lewis, of Jamaica) was born in 1730 in Jamaica; died in 1768; was buried in Mitford, Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 3 Jun 1666, Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, Lancashire, England

Thomas married Judith Scofeild on 2 Feb 1694 in Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, Lancashire, England. Judith was born about 1672 in Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, Lancashire, England; died in Dec 1739 in Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, Lancashire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Judith. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Northumberland, England; High Sherriff

Robert married Mary Osbaldeston about 1717. Mary (daughter of Sir Richard Osbaldeston, of Brayton Hall) was born in Hunmanby, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was ultimately coheir to her 5 brothers. She was married by special licence.