| |
|
Ancestry Solutions'
Ancestral Collectives
|
 |
|
 - Bef 1555
-
| Name |
John BOWYER |
| Born |
Of Petworth, Sussex, England  |
| Gender |
Male |
| _UID |
77C4537CCF52AD4EBAB20D6D5F59E920CD12 |
| Died |
Bef 1555 |
| Person ID |
I19666 |
YoungFamily |
| Last Modified |
19 Oct 2021 |
-
| Notes |
- 3rd s. of William Bowyer of Petworth by Elizabeth da. of Robert
Tredcroft of Billingshurst, m. Margaret, da. of John Barkley of Winchelsea,
1s. 4da. 1
Bailiff of Petworth for Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland
c. 1528-1535; bailiff of the King's honour of Petworth, keeper of Petworth
House and garden, 1535-d. 2
While his elder brother Robert (q. v. ) established himself as a
Chichester merchant, John Bowyer acquired the family holdings at Petworth.
He had considerable experience in estate management in Sussex. Sir
David Owen of Cowdray hired him as understeward of the manor of Midhurst
in 1525, but two years later took Bowyer to court for his failure to return
court rolls and other estate documents. Bowyer was holding them as security
for his annual fee of 20s., 'which he claimed had never been paid. A similar
case was brought against Bowyer by Sir Roger Lewkenor of Trotton a few years
later. Lewkenor had employed Bowyer as the steward and surveyor of his
lands in Sussex, and he had not received the manorial rolls and accounts.
3
Despite the charges laid against him
- and there is no evidence as
to who won either case - Bowyer was acting as bailiff of Petworth by 1531,
in which year he reported the arrest by Lewkenor of the vicar of South
Harting for alleging that there had been two devils in England; one,
Cardinal Wolsey, was dead, - the other, the King, was yet alive. Although
he was not officially appointed bailiff until March 1533, Bowyer had almost
certainly succeeded his father to the office in 1528(4)
The Earl of Northumberland's death saw his lands pass to the Crown,
but Bowyer continued to exercise his duties as bailiff. The official return
for Steyning to the Parliament of 1542 cites Bowyer as 'bailiff of the King's
honour', though he was not granted his patent for life until November 1546.5
By 1552, if not long before, Bowyer was collector of the revenues
accruing from the possessions in Sussex of the Surrey priory of Merton.
He received certain lands scattered in Hartfield, Denton, Ovington and
elsewhere, late of the priory, in exchange for some of his property annexed
during the extension of Petworth Park in 1552.6
Some, of the six sons of Robert Bowyer of Chichester made their fortunes
in London and two of John's four daughters were married to city merchants,
Rose to Simon Maston, a tanner, Parnell to Ralph or Thomas Atkinson, a
girdler. A third daughter, Dorothy, died a spinster in London in 1563
leaving all her goods to her brother-in-law. Finally Alice married Richard
Mill, a yeoman of west Sussex, who had become John's ward in July 1546.7
Neither Bowyer's will, nor an inquisition on his lands survives,
but he was dead by February 1555 when the Earl of Arundel, steward of
Petworth honour since 1549, appointed one of the King's yeomen bailiff in
his stead.
8
1" Vis. Suss. (Hari. Soc. liii) p. 61; Chichester R. 0. Comber Pprs.
vol. xiv. p. 1; PCC 32 Stevenson.
2. CPR. PM. i i. p. 41; L. P. Hen. VIII, xxi(ii) p. 433; Stowe 571, f. 55.
3. C1/551/72, 841/24.
4. L. P. Hen. VIII, v. 336; CPR. P. M. U. p. 41; " S. A. C. xlii. p. 19.
5" L. P. Hen. VIII, xxi(ii) p. 433.
6. S. C. 6 Ed. VI/457; CPR Ed. VI., iv. p. 403; SP10/19, f. 48v; APC, iv.
p. 146.
7. Visitation op. cit.; PCC 32 Stevenson; L. P. Hen. VIII, xxi(i) g 1383
(108).
8. CPR. P. M. ii. p. 41.
[Source: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/29029355.pdf]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
