The Bowles of Great Gaddesden, Herts
Back to The Bowles of Hertfordshire See also The Bowles of Great Gaddesden's Family Tree The name in Great Gaddesden may be quite ancient. The Common Plea Roll of Henry VI records a debt claim made against a John Boule of Gaddesden, Herts, Esq. by a London grocer, Thomas Ive, in 1440.
However, as records from that period are
quite sparse on the Internet, the next reference I've found does not
occur until a Thomas Bowle was buried in Great Gaddesden on Jan. 3,
1579/80 (old calendar).
The National Archives (NA) collection of the Estate
and Family papers of the Halsey Family of Gaddesden Place, Great
Gaddesden includes a bargain and sale document (ref.
DE/HL/13151) dated
Mar. 10, 1712 for some land near Water End, Great Gaddesden by a Francis
Moore of Great Gaddesden, husbandman, to Marvin Bowles of Water End,
Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, cordwinder and then the sale of that land
(ref.
DE/HL/13181) on Feb. 6, 1717 by Marvin Bowles to Paul Cary of
Castle Cary, Somerset. Marvin Bowles' probate documents dated 1724
are stored at the Hertfordshire Archives (ref: HRT Reference: 14463;
12HR338). For a transcription
of his Will see Marvin Bowles of
Great Gaddesden's Will of 1724
17th century surveys of the Hemel Hempstead estate show
that the northern half of it was held by the Halsey family from 1702 and
that their estate had its northern border at Water End. The parish
of Great Gaddesden lies immediately north of Hemel Hempstead parish.
Note: many of the earlier references use the
spelling Mervin and even Mervyn while Marvin appears in many
transcriptions of those references. As later generations most
commonly used Marvin I have settled on that spelling in my pages except
where reference is being made to a specific source reference.
The same collection includes a copy of a
Court Roll (ref.
DE/HL/13205) from Apr. 20 and May 7, 1723 giving
Leonard Bowles, the elder, admission to 'Peppetts Close' on the
surrender of George Rose; a copy of a Court Roll (ref.
DE/HL/13213) from
Apr. 16, 1726 giving Henshaw Halsey admission to 'Whitehouse' and
adjoining land on the surrender of Leonard Bowles (field names given); a
land survey made in 1736 (ref.
DE/HL/13240) of Leonard Bowles farm
(field names given) and an Agreement and Counterpart (ref.
DE/HL/14828
and 14829) dated Feb. 18, 1747 between George Halsey of Great Gaddesden,
Hertford, gentleman, party of the 1st part, Judith Chandler of the same,
party of the 2nd part, and Leonard Bowles of Breadstreet, London,
merchant, party of the 3rd part, in regard to the will to be made by
George Halsey after his marriage to Judith Chandler.
That series of land transactions documents
Halsey's lease of land held by Leonard Bowles, the elder, in 1726 which
he later included as part of his marriage settlement in 1747 which
required Leonard Bowles' agreement. That would be Leonard Bowles
Jr. who we see is a London merchant in 1747. Leonard Bowles, Sr.
having passed away by 1747. Leonard's probate documents
dated 1747 are stored at the Hertfordshire Archives (ref: HRT Reference:
14461; 12HR221). A Widow Bowles buried Feb. 8, 1756 Great
Gaddesden (by affidavit of Mary Ivory).
Other possibly connected Bowles records:
The Bowles of Gaddesden may have a local origin
as there were Bowles in this area long before this but their use of the
unusual given names Leonard and Mervin/Marvin indicates a possible
common origin with the Bowles of Wiltshire which should be examined:
Leonard Bowles bp. Dec. 22, 1688 East Knoyle,
Wiltshire; father: Robert
Marven Booles bur. May 24, 1660 St Michael,
Mere, Wiltshire
Mervin Bowles son of Mr Matthew and Ann,
rector, b. July 5, bur. July 13, 1715 St Andrew Anglican, Donhead St
Andrew, Wiltshire
In the early 1700's two brothers of this line,
Leonard and Marvin Bowles, moved to London where they married and
established themselves in businesses. See
The Bowles of Great Gaddesden in
London for their story.
A branch of their line settled in the Bahamas
and from there branches settled in the United States and in Canada.
See The Bowles of Gaddesden in The Bahamas,
Tobias Bowles of Charleston, South
Carolina and
The Bowles of Maple Creek,
Saskatchewan, Canada.