A Quaker Branch of the Bowles Family

The Bowles family of Ballickmoyler were strong supporters of the Church of Ireland as is shown by the Castletown Church Vestry Minutes from 1801 to 1816 and their mention in the Castletown parish registry until 1846. However, one branch of this family moved to Dublin and adopted the Quaker faith.

Robert Bowles, the son of William Bowles and Sarah Moore, was born in Ballickmoyler in 1774 and was baptized twice. Once at the St. Mary's church (Church of Ireland) in nearby Carlow town, co. Carlow and then 5 days later at the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Carlow. Since we know that William Bowles was protestant, the assumption would be that Sarah Moore was Catholic. Robert appears to have been a shoemaker in Ballickmoyler and was possibly ^{(see note below)} unmarried until 1810 when, at the age of 36, he married Ann Waring, the widow of Thomas Baker of Ballickmoyler who had died there in 1809. Ann had been a member of the Quaker faith but she was disowned in 1811 for "having deviated from the faith by being married by a priest". Robert and Ann had three children who were baptized at the Castletown church between 1811 and 1816. They remained in Ballickmoyler but their children all moved to Dublin and adopted the Quaker faith. Ann was accepted back into the Quaker Carlow meeting in 1833.

Note: Roberts marriage at 36 to Anne Wardell was rather late in life and leaves room for a first marriage. There are very few Catholic registers surviving from that period to prove this either way. He is also the only Catholic Bowles that I know of before the 1800's. However, there was a William Bowles, born about 1800, living in Carlow, who was Catholic and one of his children was a shoemaker. If Robert did marry first at a more usual age in his low-20's (around 1796 to 1798) this William born in 1800 would be a very good candidate for his son. See William Bowles of Carlow

By 1833 Robert's eldest, Robert Jr., was living in Dublin where he followed the family's traditional occupation of shoemaking. The Dublin Voters List of 1833 shows a Robert Bowles, shoemaker, at 62 Dorset Street, Dublin. That same year, he married Hannah Wardell and this marriage is recorded in the Quaker Dublin Monthly Meeting Minutes.

In 1843 daughter Lucy married Jonas Wardell in Dublin and this was also in the Quaker faith. Their third child Thomas also married in Dublin in 1839 and his children are also registered in the Quaker minute books although I have not yet found the record of his marriage.

Thomas, seems to have taken over or joined Robert Jr.'s business as the 1844 Jury List for the City of Dublin lists a Thomas Boles, shoemaker, at 62 Dorset Street and there is a Boles and Co. still operating at 62 Upper Dorset Street in the 1850 Dublin City Directory. For some reason he had dropped the W and used the Boles spelling.

Robert Jr., was living in Cloghran, co. Dublin in 1854 according to his daughter Anne's marriage entry in the Dublin Meeting register. The family may have moved back to Queen's county shortly after that. A list of students attending the Friend's School in Mountmellick, Queen's county includes a Margaret Bowles starting school there in 1857. As this is the only Quaker Bowles family which I have found, the student was probably Robert Jr.'s daughter Margaret. See their family tree below. This may mean that the Robert Bowles Jr. family moved from Dublin to Mountmellick about 1857 or else they may have just sent Margaret to attend school there.

The following tree is based on the Dublin Meeting Minutes of the Society of Friends (Quakers) (the Quaker references are shown in square brackets) and on Church of Ireland records for the Castletown church near Ballickmoyler.

Robert Bowles b. 1774 Ballickmoyler, bp. June 20, 1774 St. Mary's Carlow and June 25, 1774 Carlow RC Cathedral (parents:William Bowles and Sarah Moore)

(lived Ballickmoyler, Queen’s co. (now co. Laois))

m. Anne Abigail Waring (b. May 12, 1780 Killesham, Carlow, Ireland; Thomas, Abigail Wright) ~ 1810 Queen's co.

(Anne Waring was the widow of Thomas Baker of Ballickmoyler who had died there in 1809)

1. Robert Bowles b. June 13, 1811 Ballickmoyler; bp. July 26, 1811 Castletown church, Queen's county

(lived Dorset Street, Dublin 1833; Cloghran, co. Dublin 1854;

Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire), Dublin 1879)

m. Hannah Wardell (b. ~ 1803; Jonas and Anne Wardell of Ashmount, co. Antrim)

Sept. 13, 1833 Dublin [Dublin bk. 7, p. 63]

1.1 Anne Bowles b. Aug. 28, 1834 [28 VIII 1834] (lived Cloghran, co. Dublin)

m. James Doyle Penrose of Carlow

(b. Aug. 30, 1829 Canada; George Doyle Penrose, Abigail Baker)

Nov. 17, 1854 Mitchelstown, co. Dublin [Dublin MMT20, p. 802]

(lived Union Terrace, Downham Market, Norfolk, England in 1881)

1.1.1 Sarah Eliza Penrose b. July 20, 1855 Monkstown, Dublin co., Ireland

m. Leonard George Southwell Apr. 20, 1914

Sarah d. Jan. 26, 1931 Watford, Hertfordshire, Bucks, England

1.1.2 George Penrose b. Apr. 7, 1857 Monkstown, Dublin co., Ireland

d. Feb. 21, 1930 Watford, Hertfordshire, Bucks, England

1.1.3 Robert William Penrose b. Jan. 21, 1859 Ireland

m. unknown

1.1.3.1 Mabel Francis Penrose m. Edward Nevell

d. Sept. 30, 1916

1.1.4 James Doyle Penrose b. May 9, 1862 co. Wicklow, Ireland

He was a “moderately successful” Irish Victorian portrait painter.

m. Josephine Peckover (of Peckover House family, wealthy Quaker bankers)

1.1.4.1 Alexander Peckover Doyle Penrose b. Aug. 12, 1896 St. Pancras, London

1.1.4.2 Lionel Sharples Penrose b. June 11, 1897

1.1.4.3 Roland Algernon Penrose b. Oct. 14, 1900 St. John's Wood, London

(a surrealist painter and friend of Picasso) biography

Roland d. 1984

1.1.4.4 Bernard Edmund Penrose b. Sept. 20, 1903

James Doyle d. Jan. 2, 1932 Bournemouth, Hants; bur. Jan. 6 Bucks, England

1.1.5 Elizabeth Josephine Penrose b. Dec. 14, 1864 Castleknock, Dublin d. 1881

1.1.6 Arthur Edward Penrose b. Apr. 6, 1869 Castleknock, Dublin

m. Maud Beatrice Kitson Mar. 17, 1914

1.1.6.1 7 living Penrose children

1.1.6.8 Clarence Rupert Penrose b. Oct. 22, 1924 Windmill Hill, Sussex

d. Apr. 15, 1931 Windmill Hill, Sussex

Arthur Edward d. Feb. 6, 1947 Windmill Hill, Herstmonceux, Sussex, England

1.1.7 Henry Walter Penrose b. Oct. 12, 1870 Mitchelstown, Castleknock, co. Dublin

m. Annie Barton Oct. 26, 1904

1.1.7.1 living Penrose

1.1.7.2 James Ronald Penrose b. Apr. 30, 1910 Hillside, Sussex, England d. 1978

1.1.7.3 living Penrose

Annie d. 1918

Henry Walter d. 1920

1.1.8 Alfred Ernest Penrose b. Mar. 8, 1874 Downham Market, Norfolk, England

m. Mabel Wiggington Feb. 2, 1905

James Doyle Penrose d. Sept. 24, 1897 co. Dublin, Ireland

Anne d. March 8, 1908 Dublin

1.2 Hannah Bowles b. Aug. 16, 1836 [16 VIII 1836 Dublin bk. 10 p. ?]

Hannah d. unm. Dec. 13, 1887 [13 XII 1887 Dublin bk. ?] Dublin;

bur. Dec. 17, 1887 Temple Hill, Dublin

1.3 Lucy Bowles b. Nov. 24, 1839 Dublin [24 XI 1839 Dublin bk. 10, p. 492]

Lucy d. May 13, 1907 [13 V 1907 Dublin bk. ?] Dublin;

bur. May 15, 1907 Temple Hill, Dublin

1.4 Jane Bowles b. July 18, 1841 Dublin [18 VII 1841 Dublin bk. 10, p. 517]

1.5 Samuel Bowles b. Feb. 24, 1844 Dublin [24 II 1844 Dublin bk. 10, p.551]

Samuel d. Dec. 10, 1844 [10 XII 1844 Dublin bk. ?]

1.6 ? b. (illegible) 1847 Dublin [Dublin bk. 10, p. (illegible)]

1.7 Margaret Bowles b. Apr. 5, 1847 Dublin [5 IV 1847 Dublin bk. ?]

m. Francis Neale (b. Nov. 3, 1852; Henry, Sarah Sophia Turtle) July 31, 1879 Monkstown

1.6.1 Arthur Neale b. Nov. 13, 1880

m. Clara Amanda Taylor (b. Sept. 13, 1887 Kennebunk, ME, USA) June 29, 1910

1.6.1.1 Francis George Neale

m. Irene Anne Thompson

1.6.1.2 Alfred Taylor Neale

m. Ellen Eddies Bryan

1.6.1.3 Robert William Neale b. May 9, 1918 Seattle, WA, USA

m. Hyacinth Lillian Forham (b. Mar. 8, 1915 Seattle) Feb. 8, 1941 Seattle

Robert William d. Sept. 22, 1978 Yakima, WA, USA

Arthur d. Apr. 9, 1931 Seattle, WA, USA

Clara d. Mar. 24, 1977 Seattle, WA, USA

Hannah d. Nov. 20, 1881 [20 XI 1881] Kingstown, Dublin; bur. Nov. 23, 1881 Dublin

Robert d. Feb. 7, 1887 [7 II 1887] Kingstown, Dublin bur. Feb. 10, 1887 Temple Hill, Dublin

2. Lucy (Lucinda?) Bowles b. Oct. 9 Ballickmoyler; bp. Oct. 31, 1813 Castletown church, Queen's county

m. Jonas Wardell of Dublin (b. ~ 1820) Apr. 12, 1843 Monkstown [Dublin bk. 7 no., p. 90]

(I have no record of their children yet)

Lucy d. Sept. 17, 1881 [17 IX 1881]

3. Thomas Bowles b. Feb. 25, 1816 Ballickmoyler; bp. Mar. 12, 1816 Castletown church, Queen's county

m. Ellen ~ 1839 (probably in Dublin but have not found record yet)

(lived Clontarf, co. Dublin)

3.1 Anne Mary Bowles b. Feb. 7, 1840 Dublin [Dublin bk. 10, p. 690]

d. Jan. 26, 1909 Spencer St., Belfast, Antrim bur. Jan. 28, 1909 Balmoral

3.2 Samuel Baker Bowles b. Sept. 10, 1841 Philsborough [Dublin bk. 10, p. 6.. (illegible)]

(lived at 11 Anglesea Street, Cork city 1880's)

m. Louisa Chapman (b. Apr. 30, 1861; George, Frances Ardagh Power) Dec. 28, 1881 Waterford, co. Waterford

3.2.1 Frances Ellen Bowles b. June 28, 1883 Anglesea Street, Cork, co. Cork

m. Charles H. John Darlington (of Enniskerry, co. Wicklow; John) Sept. 25, 1907 Cork, co. Cork

3.2.1.1 May Louisa Frances Darlington b. Nov. 10, 1908

3.2.2 Samuel Edgar Bowles b. May 9, 1885 Douglas Road, Cork, co. Cork

d. Mar. 10, 1889 Cork bur. Mar. 12, 1889 Summerhill, Cork

3.2.3 Charles Arnold Bowles b. Feb. 20, 1887 Douglas Road, Cork, co. Cork (Mar. 20 in one record)

m. Kathleen Anne Massy Fitzgerald (Henry Lawrence, Sarah Jane)

Sept. 17, 1913 Christchurch, Castlebar, co. Mayo

3.2.3.1 Charles Henry Arnold Bowles b. Apr. 10, 1915 Swineford, co. Mayo

3.2.3.2 David Alan Bowles b. Mar. 1, 1929 Dublin South

3.2.4 Constance Annie Bowles b. Feb. 16, 1890 Douglas Road, Cork, co. Cork

m. A. Clarke

Samuel d. July 29, 1907 Lewiston, Douglas Rd., Cork; bur. July 31, 1907 Summerhill, Cork

Louisa d. Mar. 13, 1947 (age 85) Monastery, Enniskerry, co. Wicklow

bur. Mar. 15, 1947 Temple Hill, Dublin

3.3 Robert Bowles b. 1843 d. June 15, 1850 [Dublin reg.]

3.4 Abigail Elinor Bowles b. Nov. 24, 1845 [Dublin (illegible)] d. Sept. 29, 1906 Birmingham

3.5 Thomas William Bowles b. May 10, 1847 Dublin [Dublin bk. 10, p. 693]

Thomas William d. Oct to Dec., 1925 Dublin South, age 79 (Civil Registration 1925 vol. 2, p. 353; not verified)

3.6 Lucy Bowles b. Oct. 3, 1850 Dublin [Dublin bk. 10, p. 694]

3.7 John Waring Bowles b. 1855 d. Nov. 24, 1855 [Dublin reg.]

3.8 Robert Bowles [Dublin reg.]

3.9 Edith Bowles [Dublin reg.]

3.10 George Waring Bowles [Dublin reg.]

Thomas d. May 30, 1883 [30 V 1883] Clontarf, Dublin bur. June 2, 1883 Temple Hill, Dublin

Ellen d. Sept. 21, 1886 William St., Dublin bur. Sept. 27, 1886 Temple Hill, Dublin

The Mitchelstown mentioned above is not the Mitchelstown of co. Cork. This townland of Mitchelstown was in the civil parish of Castleknock, Castleknock Barony, north Dublin near Blanchardstown and was only about 5 miles from Dublin city centre.

The Cloghran mentioned (the smaller of the two Cloghran townlands near Dublin) is also in the Barony of Castleknock.....the other Cloghran being away over in the general area around Swords and in the civil parish of the same name, Cloghran, .

Map of Castleknock showing Mitchelstown and Cloghran.

More Mitchelstown references:

The List of Cork Insolvent Debtors 1825-1826 includes William Bowles, Mitchelstown, Pensioner (list 11/2/1826).

I wonder if this could have been Robert, Lucy and Thomas' grandfather. Bowles currently live in the Mitchelstown area.