Persons of Interest – Thomas Bowrey Posted 13 August 2018 by Tessa KeoughIt was 1669 and a young boy arrived, alone, at Fort St. George, India. His father had died at the height of the Great Plague and he had witnessed the Fire of London. His mother was about to leave England expecting to join her son and her second husband in Bombay, on the other side of the sub-continent, not knowing her husband had died and her son had moved on. It is unlikely mother and son ever saw each other again. That the young child’s story can be told is the result of a chance discovery in 1913, in a dark, windowless attic, of a chest holding a large collection of late seventeenth and early eighteenth century manuscripts. Thomas Bowrey – Man and Boy Thomas Bowrey was born in Wapping at a time of huge upheaval between the death of Oliver Cromwell and the Restoration. During his life in the East Indies he learned his trade and experienced the local culture. Later, he commanded other peoples’ ships in the country trade – independent, local trading on the periphery of the English East India Company – until he was able to afford a share in his own vessel finally allowing him to amass a fortune. He spent a total of nineteen years in the East Indies where he was attacked by pirates; imprisoned by a local military commander; was the first European to record the recreational use of cannabis and played host to the reformed pirate William Dampier; before departing in 1688. On the long journey home, Thomas started working on his Malay-English Dictionary, his only work published during his lifetime. Back home in Wapping, Thomas married his cousin. After abandoning a planned return voyage to the East Indies, he would never command a ship again but continued to invest in trading voyages for another decade or so. These ventures included the ill-fated voyages of ships taken by pirates, privateers and the Scots; cast away; blown up; and lost. Later he turned to dreaming up schemes to improve trade, and his fortune, without the risks associated with maritime ventures. These wide ranging projects included the slave trade; anti-piracy measures; and the South Sea Company. In connection with the latter, he collaborated with Daniel Defoe. Through all this, Thomas succeeded in amassing a sufficient fortune for alms-houses to be built in his name following his death. On the second and fourth Mondays of each month, we share a short story provided by a member about a person of interest in their one-name study. So whether your person is good, bad, or simply interesting or unusual, please send us your story. This post is from Guild member Sue Paul. Why not submit a story (200-300 words OR a bit longer if need be) about a person of interest in your own one-name study. Email each story and image(s) to marketing@one-name.org.
Kim Baldacchino says 14 August 2018 at 3:16 pm Great story from a century where it’s not easy to find information like this. Can you tell us more about the chance discovery of the chest in the attic and what it contained?
Sue Paul says 18 August 2018 at 5:25 pm In August 1913, the then resident of Cleeve Prior decided to have a clear out and discovered an old, wooden chest in a windowless attic room. The find was a large collection of late 17th and early 18th century manuscripts that had belonged to Captain Thomas Bowrey. The documents were eventually purchased from the occupant by Henry Howard who examined, sorted and divided them destroying much of the context and selling a number of them. The chest was donated to the V&A Museum and the bulk of the documents donated and sold in tranches to a number of repositories. They have all moved since at least once and are now held by just two archives. In the main, documents relating to Thomas Bowrey’s life in India and his Malay-English dictionary are at the British Library. Those relating to his life after he returned to England are kept at the London Metropolitan Archives. As all Guild members will understand, this wealth of material was far too tempting and I am using it and other sources, to write Thomas Bowrey’s biography.
Christine Hancock says 18 August 2018 at 8:15 pm One of the ships sent out by Captain Bowrey was the Worcester. It was siezed by the Scots in 1705 who hanged members of the crew as pirates. One who died was the 1st mate, John Madder – one of the “persons of interest” in my Madder one-name study. There are letters written by John in the Bowrey collection at the LMA. So far I have only seen them on microfilm!
Sue Paul says 20 August 2018 at 2:16 pm Christine I was extremely lucky to be given special permission from both the LMA and Lloyds of London to see the LMA manuscripts (Ms24176) in the “flesh”. It took most of a week to photograph them all and they were reluctant for me to hog the microfilm printer for that long!
Julie Goucher says 18 August 2018 at 9:39 pm A fascinating account Sue about the chest. I can totally see how seeing the documents would have been a must. I also like the point that there is a tenuous link between studies.