The BOWRY One-Name study grew out of the wider research into my family history, begun in 2000, and my increasing interest in surname studies˳ I learned early on that, as a result of a couple of irregular relationships in my ancestry, BOWRY could have been my maiden name˳ My BOWRY line can be traced back to Henry BOWEYRE who married Alce BERRINGTON at St Mary the Virgin parish church, Datchet, Buckinghamshire in 1588˳ My suspicions that most, and perhaps all, the BOWRY reference in the records could also be traced back to Henry encouraged my interest in surname studies and this One-Name study˳ The desire to trace the line back before Henry was the final driver to register this One-Name study in September 2013˳
I was distracted from the study for some years as I researched my biography of Captain Thomas BOWREY, Jeopardy of Every Wind, published by Dollarbird in April 2020 but I have now returned to my study concentrating up until now on England and Wales˳ Progress was slowed by an injudicious merger of three different data sets but, now the data cleansing is complete, rather than a single family, I have identified a number of distinct family lines˳
Wraysbury and Horton
The largest family, making up about a third of all individuals throughout history, does indeed descend from Henry BOWERYE and Alce BERRINGTON˳ Henry died at Wraysbury in 1621˳ Prominent given names in this group are Francis and Samuel, names that persist into the beginning of the twentieth century˳ This family includes a branch of papermakers˳ There was an early paper mill in Wraysbury and, over generations, they migrated to different papermaking locations˳ It is possible that another sizeable line of Quakers originating from Thomas BOWRY and his wife, Ann, living in Rickmansworth in 1654 are also part of this family˳ Rickmansworth is less than twenty miles from Wraysbury˳
Forest of Dean
The next largest grouping of families accounting for more than ten percent of the total, but as yet not all connected, originated in the Forest of Dean area˳ The primary line descends from John BOWREY and Ann who started having children at Longhope, Gloucestershire in 1745˳ In some branches their family name morphed over time from BOWERY, BOWREY and BOWRY to BOWRER, BOWER, BOWERS and, even, BROWN˳ The family were free miners and later generations migrated to the Lancashire and Yorkshire mines˳
County Durham
The third largest grouping of families, scattered across the two counties and as yet unconnected, originated in County Durham and Northumberland˳ They amount to just less than ten percent of the total˳ The earliest record found is for Robert BOWRY who was buried at Ryton in 1608˳
The above three family groupings are almost certainly represent three distinct roots of the surname˳ The next largest set may be distinct or part of another grouping˳
Bristol
Bristol is only about thirty miles from the Forest of Dean and it is conceivable that there was a migration from Bristol to the Forest of Dean˳ The root of the primary Bristol family line was John BOWRY, tobacconist, married Sarah ESTCORT in 1725˳ One of John’s descendants went out to British Guyana as a Baptist missionary and a number of his children were born there˳
Of course, Bristol today has darker connections, those with slavery˳ I still have a great deal more work to do but have recently identified a number of BOWRY slave owners as well as Afro-Caribbean holders of the surname˳
Unsurprisingly, there are numerous individuals in London, many belonging to one of the larger family groups although a number of the London families have not yet matched to one of them˳ They include the family of Captain Thomas BOWREY [1659-1713] and many are mariners and/or shipwrights˳ They may have occupational connections with Bristol˳
In London, Jacob BOWREY MDX, shipwright, married at Stepney in 1634˳ His sons, Jacob and Ephraim respectively became a mariner and a shipwright˳ Joseph BOWRY, grandfather of Captain Thomas BOWREY, was a shupwright and his three sons were mariners˳ William BOWERY, mariner, died at Shadwell in 1695˳
In Bristol, William BOWREY who was a shipwright was living at Bedminster in 1646˳ John BOWRY a Bristol shipwright in 1670 had two sons who followed him into the same trade, Nicholas and James˳ Joseph BOWRY was a Bristol-based mariner in 1677 and William BOWRY at Bedminster in 1682˳
Ireland
Although so far I have concentrated on England and Wales, I already have identified a number of Irish families, as yet unconnected˳ They already make up more than five percent of individuals in my study and have the potential to become a more major grouping˳ The earliest were Steaven BOWRE, whose first child was born about 1634 in Dublin, and Mary BOWRY born c˳1789, who died 1873 at Balrothery, about 30 miles north of Dublin˳
