Brief Life History of Matthew
When Matthew Bowden was born in 1754, in Potterne, Wiltshire, England, his father, George Bowden, was 40 and his mother, Hannah Sainsbury, was 42. He married Jane Coleman on 26 December 1778, in Potterne, Wiltshire, England. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 9 daughters.
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Family Time Line
Sources (42)
- Matthew, "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975"
- Mathew Bowden, "England Marriages, 1538–1973"
- Matthew Bowden in entry for Jemima Bowden, "England, Wiltshire, Church Records, 1518-1990"
Spouse and Children
Children (13)
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Parents and Siblings
Siblings (11)
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World Events (4)
1754 · Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War began as a North American conflict then stretched between England and France. England, along with allies, battled France in America, India, and Europe, making it arguably the first global war. The conflict ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and England was victorious. The Seven Years' war ultimately led to discontent in the colonies and the American Revolution.
1770 · Boston Tea Party
Thousands of British troops were sent to Boston to enforce Britain's tax laws. Taxes were repealed on all imports to the American Colonies except tea. Americans, disguised as Native Americans, dumped chests of tea imported by the East India Company into the Boston Harbor in protest. This escalated tensions between the American Colonies and the British government.
1787 · English Convicts Sail to Australia
The first fleet of convicts sailed from England to Australia on May 13, 1787. By 1868, over 150,000 felons had been exiled to New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, and Western Australia.
Name Meaning
English: habitational name from any of several places called Bowden or Bowdon. Bowden in Devon and Derbyshire and Bowdon in Cheshire are named with Old English boga ‘bow’ + dūn ‘hill’, i.e. ‘hill shaped like a bow’; one in Leicestershire (Bugedone in Domesday Book) comes, according to Ekwall, from the Old English personal name Būga (masculine) or Bucge (feminine) + dūn. There are also Scottish places of this name, but there are comparatively few bearers of the surname Bowden north of the border. In England, the surname is found most frequently in Lancashire and in the West Country. In Devon and Cornwall there has been some confusion with the Norman personal name Baldwin .
English: topographic name for someone who lived at the top of a hill, from Middle English buve dun ‘above the hill’ (Old English būfan dūne, as in the placename Bowden, Wiltshire).
Scottish: habitational name from Bowden in Roxburghshire, named from Old English bōthl ‘dwelling-house’ + Old English denu ‘valley’.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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