Bowes

Line update 12 July 2019

William and Jane (or Janet) BOWES lived at Tallentire in the parish of Bridekirk in Cumberland. Their marriage does not appear in the parish register there (at least not the transcript I have seen) and so I do not know Jane's origin or maiden name. There is a baptism for a William BOWES in the parish in 1595, but there was at least one other adult William BOWES in the parish in the 1620s, so there is no guarantee that the baptism is our William. William had a brother Henry, whose baptism does not appear in the Bridekirk register.

William called himself a yeoman, which I believe meant that he owned as well as worked agricultural property.

What we can see from the register is that William and Janet baptised a daughter, Mary, on 23 March 1633/34. Mary went on to marry Jonathan WILLIAMSON. Their marriage is not recorded in the Bridekirk register, but looks to have been in the early 1650s. Details of their family together and later life are on their own page.

William and Jane continued to live at Tallentire after Mary set up her own family nearby. William survived until 1663, by which time he had four grandchildren. In his will he left them each legacies, while leaving the house to Jane for her lifetime and the rest of his property to Jonathan and Mary, who he referred to as his son and daughter. Jane survived him for several years, dying in 1672 and being buried in Bridekirk. William does not appear to have been buried in the parish, unless his burial is missing--I note that it would have been about the same time as his granddaughter Ann may have been born, whose baptism is not recorded. While the parish register appears to be well populated by 1663, after some sparse years in the 1650s and up to 1660, it is possible that some religious disagreement led to the family being inconsistent in their observance of Church of England rites. It is possible given the area that they may have had Quaker tendencies or some such. Or he may just have died outside the parish.

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