Thomas Holden Bowker, 1820 Settler^{[1, 2, 3]}

1807 - 1885  (78 years)

• Name	Thomas Holden Bowker
  Suffix	1820 Settler
  Birth	24 Feb 1807	Mitford Hall, Mitford, Northumberland, England   [4]
  Baptism	10 Mar 1807	Mitford Church, Mitford, Northumberland, England
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	4 Oct 1813	Parish Church of Saint Mary, Almer, Dorset, England   [5, 6]
  Parish of Almer BAPTISMS 1731 - 1879 These records have been transcribed from the Bishop's Transcripts.
  1820 Lineage	Yes
  Residence	1816	Manor Farm, South Newton, Wiltshire, England   [2]
  Settler	7 Jan 1820	Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
  	Bowker's Party on the Weymouth
  Settler ID	110
  Residence	25 Jun 1820	Olive Burn farm, Kleinemonde, Eastern Cape, South Africa
  Death	26 Oct 1885	Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa   [7]
  	DEATH NOTICE: 6/9/226 R1877 Name of Deceased: Thomas Holden BOWKER Place of Birth: Northumberland Names of Parents: Miles BOWKER Anna Maria MITFORD Age of the Deceased: 79 years 8 months 12 days Condition in Life: Farmer Married Name of Surviving Spouse: Julia Eliza McGowan Date of Death: 26 October 1885 Place of Death: 'Tharfield', Albany, Cape of Good Hope Names of Children and whether Major or Minor: Emily Atherstone BOWKER Thomas Holden BOWKER Katherine Mitford BOWKER Mary Layard BOWKER John Mitford BOWKER Miles McGowan BOWKER Whether deceased has left any property and of what kind: Movable & Immovable Signed by J.E. McGowan Surviving Spouse
  		Bowker, Thomas Holden [160] dn Caption Note: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQF-Q623 Keywords: Death Notice
  Burial	Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa   [8]
  Person ID	I160	master
  Last Modified	19 Sep 2024

  
  

  Father	Miles Bowker, 1820 Settler,   b. 1758, Deckham Hall, Gateshead, Durham, England d. 25 Mar 1839, Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa (Age 81 years)
  Mother	Anna Maria Mitford, 1820 Settler,   b. 1782, Mitford Manor, Mitford, Northumberland, England d. 8 Jul 1868, 'Kruisfontein', Alexandria, Eastern Cape, South Africa (Age 86 years)
  Family ID	F102	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Julia Eliza McGowan,   b. 18 Dec 1825, London, England d. 26 Dec 1903, Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa (Age 78 years)
  Marriage	18 Oct 1854	Mowbray, Western Cape, South Africa
  Children	+ 1. Emily Atherstone Bowker,   b. 3 Sep 1855, Clumber, Eastern Cape, South Africa d. 23 Oct 1937, Craigie Burn farm, Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa (Age 82 years)   2. Thomas Holden Bowker,   b. 8 Mar 1857, Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa d. 1932, Kitale, Kenya (Age 74 years) + 3. Katherine Mitford Bowker,   b. 3 Apr 1860, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa d. 25 Feb 1927, Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa (Age 66 years) + 4. Mary Layard Bowker,   b. 26 Apr 1863, Roeland Street, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa d. 8 Mar 1928, Nanyuki, Kenya (Age 64 years) > 5. John Mitford Bowker,   b. 18 Nov 1864, Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa d. 1929, Harare, Zimbabwe (Age 64 years)   6. Julia Eliza Bowker,   b. 18 Nov 1867, Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa d. 1872, Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa (Age 4 years) + 7. Miles McGowan Bowker,   b. 4 Aug 1869, Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa d. 4 Mar 1961, Marandellas, Rhodesia (Age 91 years)
  Family ID	F118	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	25 Sep 2012

  
  

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  Birth - 24 Feb 1807 - Mitford Hall, Mitford, Northumberland, England Baptism - 10 Mar 1807 - Mitford Church, Mitford, Northumberland, England Baptism - 4 Oct 1813 - Parish Church of Saint Mary, Almer, Dorset, England Residence - 1816 - Manor Farm, South Newton, Wiltshire, England Settler - 7 Jan 1820 - Portsmouth, Hampshire, England Residence - 25 Jun 1820 - Olive Burn farm, Kleinemonde, Eastern Cape, South Africa Marriage - 18 Oct 1854 - Mowbray, Western Cape, South Africa Death - 26 Oct 1885 - Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa Burial - - Tharfield, Kleinemonde, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Settler Photos » Slide Show	4 Settler Photos
  	Bowker, Thomas Holden Keywords: Picture
  	Bowker, Thomas Holden Keywords: Picture
  	Bowker, Thomas Holden Caption Note: Albany Museum, Grahamstown Keywords: Picture
  	Bowker, Thomas Holden and family Keywords: Picture

  
  

  Miscellaneous

  Sketch of Thomas Holden Bowker Caption Note: in the posession of Andrew Bowker Keywords: Miscellaneous

  
  

• Notes

  He was also a member of the 1828 campaign against the M'fecani, and served as Lieutenant, Provisional Colonial Infantry in the 1834-1835 war, as Captain, Grahamstown Native Levy in the war of 1846-1847 and as Commandant of Burghers at Whittlesea in that of 1850-1853. Distinguished himself in action in the Sixth Kaffir War in 1835. . He was Resident Magistrate Kat River Settlement in 1848 and Member of the House of Assembly from 1854 to 1863. Thomas wrote the Journals of the Kaffir Wars, which was never published. He was a noted archaeologist, remembered for his painstaking work in the 1850s, in discovering and excavating numerous prehistoric stone implements near the Fish River. His collection, and notes on entomology are housed in the Albany Museum in Grahamstown. . He founded the town of Queenstown, where there is a Bowker's Park and Bowker's Kop in his rememberance. He was offered the Presidency of the Orange Free State in 1863, but did not accept it. Became a Government Agent at Kimberley, when that 'City of Tents and Tin Shanties' was founded. Queenstown Free Press: Friday October 30, 1885 DEATH OF THOS. HOLDEN BOWKER, Esq – It will be news to a good many in this district that at one time this deceased gentleman was peculiarly interested in Queenstown. It was on his suggestion that Sir George CATHCART laid out the Division on the grantee system, and when the Queenstown Division was enfranchised, Messrs T.H. BOWKER and DARNELL were the first representatives to Parliament. Beyond expressing our regret and our deep sympathy with the family, we cannot do more to-day than make this passing notice of one who may be really looked upon as the founder of Queenstown. from:British South Africa A History of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope from its Conquest 1795 to the Settlement of Albany by the British Emigration of 1819 [A.D. 1795 - 1825] WITH NOTICES OF SOME OF THE BRITISH SETTLERS OF 1820 BY COLIN TURING CAMPBELL [Residient at Graham's Town, 1845-1871]:- Thomas Holden Bowker, J. P., M.L.A., served on the Fikani expedition in 1828, served as an officer in the Graham's Town Native Infantry in the war of 1835-36, and served through that of 1846-47, commanding old Kafir Drift post until close of the war. After Resident Magistrate of Kat River, defended Whittlesea during the greater part of the war of 1851-52. He drew up a plan for the defence of the Frontier, which he submitted to His Excellency Sir George Cathcart, Governor, and was partly carried out in the formation of the district of Queen's Town, which town he founded, preventing Kafir incursions for many years. He was further engaged in the greater part of the action taken along the upper Kei border against Kreli, and was in 1872 appointed member and Secretary of the Land Commission on the Diamond Fields. He was many years in Parliament, representing the electoral districts of Albany, Victoria East, and Queen's Town. He was offered the Presidency of the Orange Free State, but declined the offer. Thomas came to the Cape in 1820 and inherited Tharfield after his father's death. He was a keen naturalist and as early as 1832 made sketches of plants and insects which are in the Albany Museum. During one of the frontier wars he invented the conical bullet. He was magistrate for Kat River in 1950 and an M.P. for Albany for many years. He tried hard to get compensation for the frontier farmers. [9]

  
  

• Sources

  [S6] M D Nash, "The Settler Handbook", (Chameleon Press ISBN 0 620 10940 8), 11 Feb 2003, p 47. [S444] Tanner - Tremaine, Paul, BOWKER 1820 GEDCOM, (http://www.geocities.com/settlers1820). [S6] M D Nash, "The Settler Handbook", (Chameleon Press ISBN 0 620 10940 8). [S243] Baptism Records - 1813, Parish of Almer, Dorset. [S2808] Parish of Almer baptisms. [S3124] Baptisms - Parish of Almer, Dorset. [S2181] Family Search website, (www.familysearch.org), https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQF-Q623 (Reliability: 3). [S387] Morse Jones, E, "Roll of the British Settlers in South Africa", (A.A. Balkema / Cape Town). [S5018] Jervois, Wiliam.