By all the accounts I have researched, the name Bowen
originated in Wales ,
some say, more specifically, in Pembrokeshire. Whatever the case may be, the
name originates through the Welsh patronymic system. This is a fairly complex
system that can become lengthy and cumbersome. The Welsh used the prefix ‘ab’
or ‘ap’ to designate ‘son of’ + the father’s given name. A name such as Gwilym
ab Gruffyd ab Madog would be son, father and grandfather. This would translate
into William son of Griffith
son of Maddock or a variety of spellings meaning about the same thing. In the
case of Bowen, Owain (Owein, Owen and other spellings) was a popular Welsh
name. To be the son of Owain would be to have a name such as Rhys ab Owain.
Eventually the long string of paternal names was discontinued and ‘ab Owain’
became standard, evolving into ‘Bowain’ or Bowen. Just for kicks and giggles, a
few other names that came into being this way were Price (ap Rhys), Pritchard
(ap Richard), Perry (ap Harry), Powell (ap Hywel), and Pye (ap Hugh).
Swansea, Wales
It is believed the earliest known ancestor of the Bowens was
a man named Gwylym ab Oowen who was born c. 1412. There are some researchers
who believe they can take the Bowen line back to the first century, but I don’t
advocate this school of thought. Over the course of years, I have been able to
ascertain, through some published research of Medieval experts, that not much
can be verified before the year 1000 CE. If it is a Royal line, there is a
chance for documentation, but the common folk were basically illiterate and
didn’t keep records of names. If anything, it was the number of people serving
a Lord of the manor and how many people in his household. If records were kept,
many, most perhaps, have been lost to time, dampness, fire and basic
deterioration.
Before I go on, I might add that there are still several
schools of thought on the ancestry of Richard Bowen of Rehoboth MA. This one
is, or seems to be, the most commonly accepted for accuracy. So we will begin
with Gwylym ab Owen and what is known about him.
(1) Gwylym was b. c. 1412 in Wales . He married Agnes verch Hywel
and they had a child named Owen, b. c 1453. (2) Owen married Janet Llewelyn and
had at least three children: James, b. 1480, Thomas and Elizabeth. (3) James was
appointed Commissioner of Revenue by King Henry VIII and became Sir James who m.
Mary Hale. They had at least one child Mathias, b. 1524. (4) Mathias m. Mary
Phillips and they had a son, James, b. c. 1550. (5) James m. Eleanor Griffith (they
were 1st cousins 1x removed) and their son Richard was b. c. 1590.
An ascendency to King Edward III, through his son John of
Gaunt, has been displayed on some websites. I have double checked random
entries and have found there to be a reasonable assurance and confidence that
this is a reliable ancestry of Richard Bowen, the immigrant. However I have a
dozen or more sources to check before I will claim its accuracy. For those who
might like to attempt further research on your own, the following is the
descent being researched by a number of people:
Edward III Plantagenet m. Philippa of Hainault
John of Gaunt m. Katherine Roet (Swynford)
Henry Beaufort m. Alice FitzAlan
Jane Beaufort m. Edward Stradling
Henry Stradling m. Elizabeth
verch William Herbert
Thomas Stradling m. Janet Mathew
Jane Stradling m. William Griffith
Elizabeth Griffith m. John Phillips
Mary Phillips m. Mathias Bowen
James Bowen m. Eleanor Griffith
Richard Bowen m. Anne Bourne
(6) Richard is my 9x gt. grandfather. He was b. in Ilston,
Glamorganshire, Wales .
He m. c. 1615, Anne Bourne, at Kettle Hill, Glamorganshire, Wales . She was b. c. 1592 in Swansea , Glamorganshire, Wales . Richard and his family
emigrated to America
about 1640. He and Anne had at least 7 children, all of whom were born in Wales .
Their children were:
Sarah (1616-1676) m. c. 1639 Robert Fuller
Richard (1623-?) m. Esther Sutton
Thomas (1625-1663) m. Elizabeth Nichols
*Obadiah (1627-1710) m. 1651 Mary Clifton
Ruth (1634-1688) m. George Kendrick
William (1637-1687)
(7) Obadiah and Mary Clfiton m. 1651 in Rehoboth MA and had
11 children. Their names were:
*Obadiah (1651-1699) m. 1677 Abigail Bullock
Mary (1653-1678) m. 1673 Isaac Allen
Sarah (1654-1710) m. 1673 John Savage
Samuel (1659-1728) m.1684 Elizabeth Wood (went to Cohanzey NJ
Joseph (1662-1727) m. 1683 Elizabeth Rounds
Thomas (1664-1743) m. 1689 Thankful Mason
Hannah (1665-1715) m. 1685 Timothy Brooks (went to Salem NJ
Mercy (1672-young)
Isaac (1674-aft.
1710) m. 1698 Hanna Winchester
Hezekiah (1676-aft. 1710)
(8) Obadiah and Abigail Bullock had at least 10 children.
They eventually left Rehoboth and moved to Swansea where all of their children were
born. Obadiah was called Jr. in Swansea
records. At one time Swansea
(Swanzey) was a part of Rehoboth before being made a village in its own right.
Their children were:
*James (1680-1738) m. 1703 Elizabeth Garnzey
Peleg (1682-?)
Hezekiah (1682-1751) m. 1706 Elizabeth Randall
Mary (1684-?) m. 1710 John Bush
Abigail (1688-aft. 1722) m. Benjamin Fiske
Daniel (1689-1737) m. 1716 Priscilla Vinton
Aaron (1691-1774) m. 1717 Experience Whitaker
Sarah (1693-?) m. Martyn Luther
Nathan (1698-1776) m. Sarah Ashley
(9) James and Elizabeth Garnzey (d/o John Garnzey and Elizabeth)
*Elizabeth
(c. 1705-1755) m. 1725 Jonathan Cole
Obadiah (1706-?) m. 1731 Barbara Martin
Tabitha (1710-?) m. c. 1731 Daniel Wheaton
Mary (1713-?) m. 1733 Thomas Wilbur
Patience (1716-?)
Experience (1720-?)
Abigail (1722-?)
Originally, I had the parents of Elizabeth Garnzey as John
Garnzey and his wife Elizabeth Titus.
This Elizabeth Titus was supposedly the daughter of John Titus and
Abigail Carpenter. Titus family researchers have discredited this line and
state that throughout all the records that have been researched John and
Abigail had no daughter named Elizabeth .
They stated the confusion probably occurred because a John Garnzey did marry an
Elizabeth Titus, but in a totally different generation. Thus, I have removed
the surname of the Elizabeth
who was the mother of Elizabeth Garnzey and who married John Garnzey.
The family of Elizabeth Bowen and Jonathan Cole can be found
in an earlier blog “Cole Family Goes to Swansea ”
dated Dec. 18, 2012.
As always, I hope you enjoy the information on the Bowens.
Any addition, corrections or suggestions are gratefully accepted and
appreciated.
I was glad to find this and look forward to reading your blog. I have Bowen/Bullock/Bliss in my ancestry, settlers of Rehoboth. My line is from Richard's daughter, Ruth Bowen who married George Kendrick. I have been reading the many accounts of the Bowen ancestry. Thank you for explaining the ab Owen name, I should have remembered that from my childhood fascination with the old Welsh legends. After so many false starts on my ancestry, I am happy to find the burying grounds, the simple stones, the old churches and farm places which mean so much more then coats of arms and connections to royalty.
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