Duncan Campbell Bowker

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Occupation: 1989, Doornberg farm, Middleburg, Eastern Cape, South Africa; Farmer

Notes:

St Andrew's College Register 1855-1959: Page 365
Entry 3949
Duncan Campbell BOWKER
son of no. 760; Left Dec. 1934; b. 16.11.1916; Upper. Form IV-VI. J.C. Feb 1932. Matric Jan 1934. Farmer; Rosmead, C.P.; D.M.R. 1940; Cpl., missing June 1942, Tobruk; P.O.W. Italy, Germany till 1945. Doornberg, P.B. Middelburg C.P. 1952

He and his brother were taken prisoner at Tobruk during World War II. They were held prisoner in Italy and later in Germany. see WWII SADF involvement.pdf in documents section.

Duncan married Nanette Marriott McCabe [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Gillian Nanette Bowker
2. Roseanne Jennifer Bowker
3. Ann-Marie Eve Bowker
4. John Marriott Mitford Bowker
5. Tracy Alice Bowker

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Residence: 1916, Doornberg Farm, Brak River, Middelburg, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Notes:

Grahamstown Journal 9 August 1875:
BIRTH at Grahamstown on the 7th August, the wife of Mr. D.C. BOWKER of a son.

St Andrew's College Register 1855-1959: Page 85
Entry 760
John Mitford Pringle BOWKER
son of D.C.; Left Dec 1892; Day, Boarder. Born 1875. Form II-C.S. Cpl. C.C. VIII. S.H. 1. 1891. Matric. 1892. C.S. Exam. 1892; Farmer; Boer War, Capt.; Great war, Capt.; rep. Midlands at Cricket 1907; Doornberg, P.B. Middelburg, C.P. 1945.

He served in the Anglo-Boer War. While fighting during World War I he was wounded.
He went to Nigeria and the French Sudan to look at ostriches. They brought back about 150 birds by ship.
From 'The Bowkers of Tharfield': Jack Bowker has one of the most interesting heirlooms which the family possesses, the old silver seal of the Bouchier which as head of the family he inherited from his father.

Baptised: 1875, August 28th
Born: August 7th 1875
Parents: Duncan Campbell and Beatrice Scott BOWKER
Occupation: Farmer
Residence: Fish River Randt
Witnesses: William Blore Townsend (by Proxy), The Father & Mrs Emma Townsend (by Proxy)
Baptised by: F.H. Williams D.D.
Source: Grahamstown - St George (Anglican), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. Baptism register, 1869-1908, page 34, entry number 3235. Repository: Cory Library, MS 14 878-4.

John married Alice Beatrice Scott in 1913 in King William's Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Alice (daughter of Robert Pringle Scott and Ellen Jeffrey) was born on 6 May 1879. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Occupation: Doornberg Farm, Brak River, Middelburg, Eastern Cape, South Africa; farmer

Notes:

Microfilm# 1560877
Methodist Parish Records
Commemoration Church, Grahamstown, Christenings: 1822-1858 (film is mis-labeled as Somerset East Methodist Parish)
Item 9
Entry #874
Child: Duncan Campbell BOWKER
Parents: John Mitford and Mary Ann
Born: 3/22/1838 - at Fort Peddie
Baptized: 7/6/1838
Minister: William B. BOYCE

Died:
DEATH NOTICE:
6/9/4479 R42831
Name of Deceased: Duncan Campbell BOWKER
Birthplace of Deceased: Cape Province
Names of Parents: John Mitford BOWKER
Mary Ann STANDEN
Age of Deceased: 96 years 4 months
Condition in Life: Farmer
Ordinary Place of Residence: 'Doornberg', Middelburg
Widower
Name of Pre-deceased Spouse: Beatrice Scott PRINGLE died 22nd December
1936 Estate File 29166
Date of Death: 24 July 1934
Place of Death: 'Doornberg', Middelburg
Names of Children:
John Mitford Pringle BOWKER
Mabel Mitford BOWKER married DE BEER
Duncan Mitford BOWKER
Gladys Mitford BOWKER married COLLETT
Vera Mitford BOWKER married COSTER
Mary Mitford BOWKER
All Major
Movable Property?
Immovable Property?
Will?
Signed: J.M.P. BOWKER Son

Duncan married Beatrice Scott Pringle on 12 Mar 1874 in Bedford, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Beatrice (daughter of William Dods Pringle, 1820 Settler and Harriet Hockly, 1820 Settler) was born on 23 Apr 1853 in Lynedoch farm, Bedford District, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 22 Dec 1930 in Doornberg, Middleburg, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Robert + Ellen Jeffrey. Ellen was born about 1845. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Name: John Mitford Bowker
• Baptism: 4 Oct 1813, Parish Church of Saint Mary, Almer, Dorset, England
• Residence: 1816, Manor Farm, South Newton, Wiltshire, England

Notes:

John Mitford remained in England while he tied up his dad's affairs and only went out to South Africa 2 years later than the rest of the family, so he was not classified as an 1820 Settler.
~~~~~~
BOWKER, John Mitford, 1820
Written by .

National Archives, Kew, CO48/52, 58

Mr. Miles BOWKER late resident of South Newton near Salisbury in the County of Wilts with his party Embarked on board the Weymouth Store Ship the latter end of December last (1819) for the new settlement at the Cape of Good Hope sanctioned by His Majesty's Government. – John Mitford BOWKER of South Newton aforesaid aged 20 years and son of Miles BOWKER being one of the party is desirous to proceed to his Father at the Cape Settlement without delay and he most respectfully begs that Earl BATHURST His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonial Department will give the necessary instructions for him to proceed forthwith to the said Colony.

[Note from clerk on reverse]

Lord PEMBROKE called here to enquire whether Mr. BOWKER would be provided with a passage to the Cape. The Sir George Osborn was at Deptford on Saturday and the Navy Office say that if the passage is ordered immediately BOWKER can go on board.

Footnote from GOULBURN

Mr GOULBURN's complts and there is no longer any prospect of forwarding BOWKER.

7 March

The Lower Albany Chronicles state that John had arrived at Oliveburn on 31 December 1822.

Comment by PaulTT. It has been claimed that younger brother Bertram also stayed behind and only went to SA with John in 1822, yet the letter above has no mention of him. Bertram does feature in the Settler Returns, ie manifest, of the Weymouth as having gone to SA with his parents in 1820.
~~~~~

He took part in the campaign against the M'fecani in 1828 and served as Lieutenant, 1st battalion Provisional Colonial Infantry in the war of 1834-1835, being appointed Resident Agent with the Fingo Settlement near Fort Peddie. He was signatory to the Treaty with the Gaika Chiefs at King William's Town in 1836. In the war of 1846-1847 he was Commandant, Lower Koonap River Burghers and Field-Cornet, Fish River in 1847. .

He was a member of the 1828 expedition party into Kaffirland, described in Harold Edward Hockly's book, 'The Story of the British Settlers of 1820 in South Africa', on pages 117 and 118. " About the middle of the following year, 1828, news was received that Chaka's Zulus ( or the Fetcani), were again threatening to overrun Kaffirland, and once again the Kaffirs prepared for a wholesale migration into the Colony for protection. A small volunteer force of fifty men under Major Dundas was immediately despatched into Kaffirland to investigate the position, to persuade the Zulus or Fetcani, (whichever the raiders turned out to be), to retire, and if necessary, drive them back. Settlers who were members of this small expedition were J.M., W.M., and B.E. Bowker, James and John Cawood, W.Biddulph, C.Baillie, T.Foxcroft, Thomas Pullen and E.Phillips. Together with a body of friendly kaffirs, they advanced as far as the Bashee River without coming into contact with the enemy. With half a dozen of the settlers just named, Dundas then rode into Pondoland to make further reconnaissances: there they saw the ruin and desolation caused by the invaders (who turned out to be Fetcani, not Zulus), and narrowly escaped coming into conflict with them. After this small scouting party had again rejoined the main body, Dundas's force moved into Temboland, where they again saw the evidence of the terrible havoc wrought by the Fetcani. near the Umtata River, the opposing forces at last met, the Fetcani being defeated after a short but sharp encounter. On the return of the expedition to the Colony after an abscence of seven weeks, Col. Henry Somerset led a large and well equiped force into Kaffirland which overtook the Fetcani at the Kei River, defeated them in a decisive battle, and drove them back." . Distinguished himself in action in the Sixth Kaffir War in 1835, and became a Government Agent with the Fingoes after this war - Fort Peddie 1835. He died during the Seventh War.

Cape Frontier Times - June 1847:
THE LATE MR. JOHN MITFORD BOWKER
21st April 1847
To the Editor: Sir, I and two or three agriculturalists accidentally met the other day when each seemed more than another to deplore the loss of our valued countryman John Mitford BOWKER Esq.JP. We asked one another why such an eminently bold, fearless and honest advocate of colonial interests did not merit a testimonial of his countrymens’ esteem. At once we agreed that the erection of a Monument to his remains was the smallest tribute we could render to the memory of a true patriot and British subject, whose acts as a colonist must be embalmed while the history of our country exists. We have determined to enter into a Subscription to erect a Monument to record our sense of his moral worth, and we trust that the mere mention of such an intention will be sufficient to call forth general approbation among the Frontier inhabitants.
A. FARMER

John Mitford Bowker 13 Apr 1801 - 14 Apr 1847
'.. farmer and government agent, was the eldest son of Miles Bowker, leader of a party of 1820 Settlers, and his wife, Anna maria Mitford. Bowker did not accompany the family to the Cape but remained in England to settle family affairs and joined his parents only in 1822. He saw active service in the Sixth Frontier War (1834-5) and was specially mentioned for his bravery. He was subsequently appointed government agent to the Fingo people settled in the neighbourhood of Fort Peddie and to other tribes living adjacent to the frontier. In 1839 he was removed from this office because his administrative methods met with official disapproval, and he was moreover an implacable critic of the Stockenström treaty system under which he operated. .. In 1841 he became a sheep farmer at Willow Fountain, Fish River Rand, and being like other frontier farmers subjected to raids by Xhosa tribesmen he championed the cause of the White landowners on the frontier. In a series of speeches he criticised both the philanthropic ideas of the missionaries and the frontier policy of the government, and supported White farmers in their claim for more land and protection against cattle thieving by the Xhosa. His words were bitter and incisive, and in 1844, in a speech dubbed by W. Porter the Attorney General as the 'springbok speech', he drew a comparison between the Xhosa and a mustering of springbok in time of drought. .. When the Seventh Frontier War (War of the Axe, 1846-7) broke out most of the Bowker family went into lager at Thornkloof, the farm of Miles Bowker, but were forced to withdraw. Bowker left his family in safety on his brother Robert Bowker's farm near Somerset East and joined the burgher force mustered under Sir Andries Stockenström. .. His farm was in ruins, and it was while camping in a stable on the farm of his brother Bertram at Oakwell, near Grahamstown, that he caught pneumonia and died there at the age of forty-six. .. An anthology of Bowker's Speeches, letters and selections from important papers was compiled by his widow and in 1864 published in Grahamstown. They give valuable insight into the mind of a White frontier farmer during a turbulent period of frontier history.' (Dictionary of South African biography, Vol. III, pp. 94-5.) [(Pietermaritzburg), KZN, South Africa]


Baptism:
Parish of Almer
BAPTISMS 1731 - 1879
These records have been transcribed from the Bishop's Transcripts.

Died:
MOOC 6/9/42 R8947
DEATH NOTICE:
Name of Deceased: John Mitford BOWKER
Place of Birth: England
Names of Parents: Miles BOWKER
Anna Maria BOWKER
Age of Deceased: 45 years
Condition in Life: Farmer
Married:
Name of Surviving Spouse: Mary Ann STANDEN
Date of Death: 11 April 1847
Place of Death: Palmietfontein, Albany, Cape of Good Hope
Names of Children:
Duncan Campbell BOWKER
John Mitford BOWKER
Thomas BOWKER
Miles Bouchier BOWKER
Mary Ann BOWKER
Signed by W.M. BOWKER, Brother.

John married Mary Anne Standen on 26 Apr 1837 in Grahamstown Church (St George's - Anglican), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Mary (daughter of Thomas Standen and Mary Ann, - wife of Thomas Standen) was born on 13 Sep 1814 in Hammersmith, London, England; was christened on 9 Oct 1814 in Hammersmith, London, England; died on 25 Dec 1893 in Signal Hill, Albany, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Riebeeck East, Eastern Cape, South Africa; a Farmer

Notes:

After John Mitford Bowker's death at Oakwell his wife Mary Anne BOWKER bought the farm 'Mitford Park' near Riebeck East in August 1850. Later the Cape government granted Mary Anne the farm 'Signal Kop' and 'Signal Hill' on the Fish River in recognitgion of her late husband's Services.

Birth:
Piece 0375: Hammersmith, George Yard, Broadway (Independent, formerly Presbyterian), 1812-1837

Piece 0375: Hammersmith, George Yard, Broadway (Independent, formerly Presbyterian), 1812-1837

Died:
DEATH NOTICE:
MOOC 6/9/330 R1493
Name of Deceased: Mary Ann STANDEN
Place of Birth: Hammersmith, London
Names of Parents: Thomas STANDEN & Mary Ann STANDEN
Age of Deceased: 79 years
Widow
Predeceased Spouse: John Mitford BOWKER Died May 1847
Date of Death: 25 December 1893
Place of Death: Signal Hill, Albany
Names of Children:
Duncan Campbell BOWKER
John Mitford BOWKER
Miles BOWKER
Mary Ann BOWKER married BOWKER
Signed D.C. BOWKER, Son.

Notes:

Grahamstown Journal, April 1837:
Married on Wednesday 26th inst by the Rev.John HEAVYSIDE, John Mitford BOUKER Esq of Fort Peddie to Mary Anne, eldest daughter of Mr.STANDEN, Graham's Town.

Married:
Description: Rev John Heavyside

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 654
• Settler: 15 Feb 1820, Gravesend, Kent, England

Notes:

Eldest of Robert's second marriage. First Laird of Lynedoch. Served in the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Frontier Wars, with special distinction in the last two as Commandand of the Somerset Burghers. In 1851, during the Eighth war, his small force rode out into the midst of a large body of rebel Hottentots under William Uithaalder whom he called upon to surrender. When he refused, Dods said, " Well, if we are to die, lets do it as fighting men". Completely dismayed, the rebels surrendered at once. In another skirmish he lay wounded, two of the enemy advancing upon him, but were both shot by his young brother in law, Henry Willaim Hockly, aged 17.

Settler:
Pringle's party on the Brilliant

William married Harriet Hockly, 1820 Settler about 1848. Harriet (daughter of Daniel Hockly, 1820 Settler and Elizabeth Moore, 1820 Settler) was born in Mar 1817; was christened on 22 May 1817 in St Andrew, Holborn, London, England; died on 29 Jul 1874; was buried in Lynedoch farm grave, Bedford, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 339
• Settler: 3 Dec 1819, Gravesend, Kent, England

Notes:

Issue 6 daughters

Settler:
Bailie's party on the Chapman

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Farmer

Alexander + Beatrice Pringle, 1820 Settler. Beatrice (daughter of Robert Pringle, 1820 Settler and Beatrix Scott, 1820 Settler) was born in 1816 in Scotland; died on 28 Jun 1903 in Imvani, Queenstown district, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 649
• Settler: 15 Feb 1820, Gravesend, Kent, England

Notes:

Walsall Advertiser August 22 1903
"An Old Cape Settler
The last survivor of the 1820 Settlers in Cape Colony, Mrs Alexander SCOTT, has passed away at Imvani, at the age of eighty-seven. The Cape Times says: Miss Beatrice PRINGLE, as she then was, after landing in Algoa Bay, made the long and in those days dangerous journey by ox waggon through Albany and up the Baviaans river, where she settled down at Clifton with her uncle. here she remained for some years until her marriage to Mr. Alexander SCOTT, by whom she had nine children, one of whom, Mr.W.H. SCOTT, of Glen Etive, is well known. Many an exciting tale she could tell of the perils and wonders of those early days, and a few hours spent in her company gave her hearers a far better idea of those adventurous times than could be possible obtained from any book ever published. She was a sister of Thomas PRINGLE, the famous African poet, and was never tired of reciting her brother's verse - indeed on the very day before her death she was learning a fresh poem"

Settler:
Pringle's party on the Brilliant