The Bowring pages are the result of the labours of several people  Thanks must go to Rosemary Lockie who has been the source of so much information concerning the Bowring family in Derbyshire.  Thanks also to  Godfrey Bowring who has been researching the Bowring name in Derbyshire for many years and  has been kind enough to share the results of his research with me.  Over the last few years Godfrey and I have worked together to uncover further information on our Bowring family.

 The Bowring family have been found in Derbyshire as early as the 1600s in the village of Rowsley. In the 1700s they can be found mainly in Edensor In the 1800s although large numbers of the Bowring family remained in Derbyshire, others moved off the land to work in the industrial areas of Manchester and Sheffield. My husband Graham's gt gt grandparents William & Elizabeth Bowring moved to Pendleton in Lancashire soon after 1800.

The Family of Joseph Bowring

At the time of his marriage at St Thomas's Church on 28 December 1882 to Eliza Ann Eades, Joseph was working as a civil and mining engineer in London.  His granddaughter, Mary Morris, daughter of Joseph's son, John, says that Joseph invented and patented a gadget called a 'wheelguard', which was mounted on the front of trains. This was used to deflect objects from the track that might otherwise derail the train. According to Mary, Joseph made quite a bit of money from this, but according to Mary, "drank it all away". Joseph travelled widely marketing his invention. His son John told his daughter Mary, that his father travelled regularly to Europe and America and was often away from home.

Joseph's wife Eliza died in 1919, and not long afterwards in 1921, Joseph journeyed out to New Zealand via Australia with his sons Joseph and John. Later that year, his daughter Ada and her son Noel also arrived in New Zealand. It is not known why he decided to go to New Zealand but the place did not agree with him and he was home again by 1924 as seen by a letter he wrote to his daughter Dorothy who was now also settled in New Zealand.

It was ironic that New Zealand did not suit Joseph as five of his eight children were to emigrate there over the years.  Only one of his children stayed in England, Eliza (Madge).  Of the other two children, Florence went to live in Canada where her second husband William MacDougall was from and his son John lived in Australia, although he too, initially immigrated to New Zealand.

Children of Joseph and Eliza (nee Eades) Bowring: