BOWICK- BOWACK- BOWAK

Joan’s great great grandmother was Jane BOWICK. She married William Thornley in Little Lever but the census confirms she came from Angus, although then it would have been Forfarshire, specifically Aberlemno; this village is famous for having Pictish stones in the small graveyard. More about Jane later.

Her parents were Peter BOWICK and Mary ROBIE, and material on Mary is on the ROBIE page. Below is what we have so far on Peter.

Peter BOWICK (1805-1833) Peter was born in Fordoun, Kincardineshire, as was his brother Thomas. He was baptised as Patrick BOWACK at Fordoun on 3 March 1805. He had a brother James who was born at Pitforthie and a sister Catherine born at Brechin. There may be more siblings yet to find. Peter entered into a business partnership with brother Thomas and James, each with shares worth over £100; the business would have been farming cattle or droving or a cattle-dealing. Peters brother died on 10th March 1832, leaving his share of the business to his two brother and his estate to sister Catherine [she married a vintner Alexander Anderson at some point]

On 19th April 1828 Peter married Mary ROBIE at Aberlemno, which is ca 15 miles from Mary’s birthplace in Cortachy. Between July 1828 and March 1833 they had five children- Ann b 1828, Jean/Jane b 1829, Margaret b 1831 and twins Thomas and Isobel Alexander b 1833.

However Peter died not long after his brother on 26th May 1833. His effects, amounting to around £40 in money and goods, were left to his widow Mary. Before 1841 but I dont know exactly when, Mary moved to her parents home at Inveriskandy Mill, near Edzell. Two of the children- the eldest Ann and youngest Thomas remained in the village with Mary’s brother James ROBIE who was the parochial schoolmaster and his sister Sarah- who might have helped in looking after the children. In both 1841 and 1851 censuses we can find them, in the latter actually as census enumerators. Ann later went to live with her uncle David Robie. By 1841 Jane and Isobel were living with their mother and step-father in Tundergarth, Dumfriesshire. The only one of the five BOWICK children I havent yet traced is Margaret. Certainly all five of Mary’s children were still alive in 1845 when Mary’s mother Ann LINDSAY died, as she left all of them something in her will.

Jane made her way via Cumberland to end up in Little Lever, and when she married William Thornley in 1860, her brother Thomas, who was also making his own way ever southwards [he had married in Warwick in 1858], was able to attend her wedding. Thomas ended up in Hampstead after 1891.

Mary remarried in 1840 - to John INVERARITY and they both made their way to Little Lever eventually and are buried in St Matthews there.

All of the above is correct and comes directly from wills and inventories, censuses, birth and marriage records. I can provide full references if anyone wants them.

Links: home page; all-hayward tree; ROBIE; HAYWARD; THORNLEY.