Person:John Bowles (24)

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John Bowles
b.Abt 1590 London, England
Facts and Events
Name John Bowles
Gender Male
Birth? Abt 1590 London, England
Marriage to Unknown
Death? Bef 1 Jul 1664 Elizabeth City County, Virginia


Will of John Bowles

Know all men by these presents: That I, John Bowles, of Elizabeth City, Colony of Virginia, planter, due to the weight of years and of divers afflictions, do publish and make this my last will and testament, in sound mind and memory and realizing that I shall soon be called to die, therefore, in the mercy of God, I desire and will it so:
That I give and bequeath to my son, John, of Elizabeth City County, planter, and he shall be my heir, all the lands, fields, farms, plantations, houses, African slaves, or any tobacco, herds, the ship ' Amelia,' or any goods of which I may die possessed, except
Item. I give and bequeath t2 Tyler Killday the matter of 16 silver shillings, and the tobacco and the box now on the Elizabeth river in the ship 'Cornwall,' provise, that he, upon his safe return from London, bring to my son Johnthe silvery powder-horn of which he hath knowledge.
I give and bequeath to Geoffrey Miles the matter of 16 silver shillings i.i the pouch, and one haunch of smoked venisonne.
In testimonie whereof, I, John Bowles, have affixed my sign and seal to this, my last will and testament, this day of grace, March 1, 1664.
(Signed) John Bowles
Signtd and declared by the said John Bowles, as his last will and testament, at Elizabeth City plantation, in the presence of:
Charlton Gillett,
John Gatty,
Royal Fleming.
Will probated July 1, 1664
[Source: "The History of the Bowles Family", 1907].


Information on John Bowles

From "The History of the Bowles Family", 1907:

John Bowles, the first of the name in America, returned to England in the ship "George," in 1612, and came out again with Sir Francis Wyatt, who arrived in Jamestown in 1621 with 1200 planters.

It is not known where John Bowles lived or by what means he secured his livelihood during the first period in the Colony, but during the second residence he received in 1625 an allotment from the Virginia Company of three acres of land on the east shore of Warwick Cove.

According to tradition John Bowles came to the Colony in the ship "Seaflower," and was engaged in fishing for a long period before he settled at Warwick Cove.

In 1639 his name as a witness is cn a bill of sale of two African slaves called Diana and June, conveying them from James Denbigh to Belton Aiken of St. Martin's Hundred.

John Bowles must have been a man of energy and enterprise, and he probably prospered in his Warwick Cove plantation, for he removed to Elizabeth City county before 1641, and there is recorded: From the Colony of Virginia to John Bowles, 50 acres in Elizabeth City county, by bill of sale from William Laighton and Henry Southall to John Bowles, patent dated June 11, and signed by William Armestead, Gcverncr of the Colony, and another: From the Colony of Virginia to John Bowles 20 acres in Elizabeth City county, by bill of sale to John Bowles, patent dated June 11, 1641, signed by William Armestead, Governor of the Colony.

The Commonwealth ruled Virginia in 1652, and the first governor under the Puritan rule granted a patent dated January 4, 1653: "From Colony of Virginia to John Bowles and Thomas Dyer, 400 acres on the Western Branch of the Elizabeth River. Signed by Richard Bennett, Colonial Governor of Virginia.

The family was still prospering and probably increasing in 1663, for another patent was granted "From Colony of Virginia to John Bowles, 350 acres on the Western Branch of Elizabeth River, assigned to him by John Watts and Robert Peele, dated February 16, 1663. Signed by Sir William Berkeley, Governor of the Colony.