The Bower & Collier Family History
Research by Colin Bower
Contents
Welcome to our website which includes reports on a series of family, local and naval projects.
What's New?
New activities in 2022:
Projects
Family History
Research into our Family Tree:
Bower/Collier Family History including:
- the Family Tree with links to our 16 Great Grandparents- and their descendants-Football in the Family(Beckenham F C& Stanhope Rovers)
Local History
Madeleine Newland - Cassette Tape Recordings Queen
In 2016, I visited Maddy to learn about her Monday Morning Tape Service, where she provided recordings of light music to local Care Homes during 1989 -2004.
Each tape had a commentary from Maddy (using the microphone shown) working from a script.
In 2021, I decided to publish the main findings of this extraordinary story that I found at the time.
List of Articles in the Project
Find the Lady!
A Local History Project where I traced a Victorian Lady who lived in the Lymington area in 1883-1893 and kept a Calling Book that my mother bought on Lymington market.
The Project is summarised in a series of articles with a Final Report:
Military History
Sinking of the SS Britannia in 1941
It is over 80 years since the SS Britannia was sunk by a German surface raider on 25 March 1941.
My father Frederick Bower survived the sinking and gave me his account:
Goan Journalist Melvyn Misquita marked the anniversary by publishing a poignant summary of what happened and the aftermath:
Summary of the attack & the aftermath
My father was rescued from a lifeboat by the Spanish vessel Cabo de Hornos. Since when there has been an extraordinary amount of contact with descendants of others who survived the sinking:
The Sinking of the SS Britannia
Joan Hughes, Woman Aviator
Joan Hughes was a member of the ATA in WWII ferying aircraft single-handed to where they were needed
Joan was the subject of an iconic photo standing by the wheel of a Stirling:
I first became aware of Joan Hughes when Len Collier's cousin Ted told me that he had seen a TV programme, Forgotten Pilots. Ted took relatives to see Joan's memorabilia at a pub in Loughton, Essex.
Over the years since, I have conducted research into Joan and her possible link to the Gardiner/Hughes Family:
Family History
The Big One!
Some years ago now, I decided to summarise/type up my family history records into a series of Family Research Project Reports starting with some of the names where there has been less research, before moving onto the main 16 names. This will be the biggest project I have ever undertaken and will take some years to complete.
Brecht One-Name Study
I have undertaken a detailed study into the name Brecht, my mother's maiden name, and the descendants of Heinrich (Henry) Brecht and his two wives Mary Somes and Harriet Piper:
Silk Weavers named Collier
Research into Silk Weavers named Collier (my wife Chris' maiden name) living in Shoreditch, Spitalfields and Bethnal Green in East London in 18th & 19th Centuries with possible links to weavers of Huguenot descent (including Gaucheron/Kemp)
During this research, progress has been summarised:
Visits to Places of Interest
We have made many interesting and enjoyable visits including a memorable one to Ireland:
Photo taken at the Giant's Causeway - August 2017
Visits to Places of Interest - Main Index
Photo Album
Collation of the photos that appear throughout the web site:
Progress Reports
A summary of progress made in each of the projects:
Contact Details
We hope that there is something of interest here for you and if so do e-mail us using our contact details:
Colin Bower
15 May 2022
