Who was General George Bowness?

Last Will and Testament

The Last Will and Testament of General George Bowness, dated 1837, shows that he was ‘of Sutton Benger’; but who was he, and why was he living in this village?

1826

General Bowness first appears in Sutton Benger documents on 3 February 1826. The Manor Court Rolls state that ‘George Bowness of Chippenham, Esquire, Major General of the Honourable East India Company’ paid £290 – a considerable sum in those days – to take over the lease of a house from Isaac Underwood, ‘a gentleman’.

The house has been identified as Park View, on the High Street. This became the Chicken Factory office block in the late 1900s, and is now The Old Gatehouse, at the entrance to The Park. It was a large house, appropriate to be the residence of a retired General; although it does not explain why he came to live there.

1762 – 1833

Other references in various Sutton Benger documents, plus other references found on-line, help to ‘tell the story’.

George Bowness was born at Little Scales, Bolton, Cumberland (near Appleby, Westmorland), in February 1762. He went to India as a Lieutenant in 1784, and spent 33 years there, mainly in ‘Madras Establishment’, returning to England in 1817 as a Lieutenant General. He was promoted to Major General in 1819, and retired to England.

It is possible that he had been living locally in North Wiltshire from about 1820 to 1826. The Manor Court Rolls state that he was ‘of Chippenham’, and there is a reference in 1823 to him as one of the subscribers to a book of poetry; the other subscribers are the rich and famous from the Calne-Chippenham-Corsham area, including Lady Catherine Tylney Long (of Draycot Park). Perhaps he found his home in Sutton Benger through meeting her?

One of the other subscribers was a Dr Sainsbury of Corsham; he was related by marriage to Dr Butler, the doctor in Sutton Benger in the mid 1800s, whose daughter married into the Sainsbury family of Corsham.

General Bowness married Harriet Martha Robinson, the daughter of a London merchant; they had 6 sons and 5 daughters. One was Harriet Bowness, born in ‘Gooty (?), Madras Residency’. Harriet was married in 1828 in Sutton Benger; she was stated to be ‘of this parish.’ She was married by licence, probably because she was only 19 at the time. She married George Bowness Carr, who was ‘of the City of London’ but was born in Appleby, Westmorland. The coincidences of ‘Bowness’ and ‘Appleby’ suggest that they were cousins.

1833 – 1867

General Bowness died on 6 July 1833. Despite being a resident of Sutton Benger, he was buried at St Andrews’, Chippenham, on 13 July 1833.

His lengthy obituary appeared later that year; with thanks to Edward Fenn for permission to repeat extracts from his website.

(United Service Journal 1833) – www.thekingscandlesticks.com

GENERAL OFFICERS LATELY DECEASED 1833 MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE BOWNESS.

... This officer, who belonged to the Madras Establishment of the Honourable East India Company service, was, on his first arrival in India, attached to the grand army, then lying a little beyond the Mount, and continued with it till after the battle and siege of Cuddalore ...

... Colonel Bowness found his health giving way to the effects of the climate, and he was consequently obliged, in 1817, to return to England, after a residence in India of upwards of thirty-three years without a furlough. He attained the rank of Lieut-Colonel, 21st September, 1804; of Colonel, 4th June, 1813; and of Major-General, 12th August, 1819. He died at Sutton Benger, Wiltshire, on the 6th of July last, very generally respected.

His daughter Emma Bowness inherited his lease of Park View, which was subsequently rented by the Hull family; the Manor Court Rolls show that Richard Hull paid Emma £495; the house was used by Thomas Hull to set up in business as a Draper.

Harriet and Emma appear again in the Sutton Benger records until the 1860s, as they retained an interest in the Park View house. In 1867 Harriet was living in Abchurch Lane, London, EC4. There were several Wine Merchants in the City of London in the 1860s by the name of ‘Carr’ and possibly all were related to each other. George Bowness Carr, aged 62, and his wife Harriet, aged 51, were living in Wandsworth, Surrey in 1861; by 1871 he was a widower, aged 73, living in Kensington and a ‘General merchant’.