The Bower & Collier Family History
Research by Colin Bower
What's New?
Early in the year, there was a software glitch and the normal home page is not being displayed. It may take a while for me to find someone who can fix the problem. Apologies.
Big Birthday!
I began the year with a big birthday with a nought on the end:
The Bowers of Fulham
We had a very exciting start to the New Year:
I was given the book Fulham Old and New for Christmas and I was able to extract details of the years when the family ran a smallholding at Rowberry Mead: (i.e. George Bower, his son William Bower, William's widow Elizabeth Bower and their son George Bower)
On 2 January, I googled Rowberry Mead and found that a Cambridge graduate had written a dissertation on the Bowers of Fulham:
In her dissertation, she also gave the Probate number for Elizabeth Bower's will in 1820:
In her will, Elizabeth Bower names her 5 children as:
Sarah White
George Bower
Christopher Bower (my direct line)
William Bower
Mary Bower
which was new information to me.
Parish Records
I undertook a number of searches:
I may have discovered the death of William Bower in 1812 though it does not give his age. It is about the right year and the burial was at All Saints in Fulham.
I discovered that William Gux Bower was Christopher Bower's brother.
I carried out further searches of the Parish Records using the name Gux and found an exciting entry:
Dartford, Kent (it would be useful to find out the name of the church)
William Bower
married 4.6.1775
Elizabeth Gux
I followed up the Dartford, Kent entry and found the baptisem of William& Elizabeth's eldest son George:
Dartford, Kent
George Bowyer bp 29.5.1776
(Parents Willmn. & Elizabeth Bowyer)
This puzzling, as there is a William Bower (father George Bower) in Fulham in 1764.
We need to find more information about George Bower who lived in the Fulham area and sort out the movements of William Bower.
Fulham Parish Church
In November, we had a short break in Sidmouth.
On a rainy Sunday we visited the Antiques Centre on the quay at Exeter:
and bought a postcard of All Saints Church (Fulham Parish Church):
This is where my ancestor Christopher Bower was christened in 1794 (Parents William & Elizabeth), one of the earliest records we had obtained.
Little did I know that I would be mounting a Mini-Project and learning much more about the family.
Introduction/Index to Mini-Project
Project Summaries
I have been adding a Summary to some of my Projects:
- Sinking of the SS Britannia
- Find the Lady!
Towards the end of 2023, I added two more:
- Madeleine Newland, Cassette Tape Recordings Queen
- Brecht One-Name Study
Following the Mini-Project, I came up with a Summary for the Bower family research to date:
- Bower Family
Brecht One-Name Study
In writing up the Summary, I added a new article with entries from the London, City Directories 1736-1943:
Walland Family
A distant cousin contacted me to provide details of Margaret Walland, the sister of Mary Ann Walland, who married George Frederick Brecht:
In fact, when Margaret married Caleb Andrews in 1867, her sister Mary Ann Brecht was a witness.
Margaret's branch of the Family Tree is:
William Edward & Susan Walland
Daughter
Margaret Walland born Stepney 1843 died 1913
married
(1) Caleb Andrews from Hampshire in 1867 (Caleb died Marylebone 1884 (age 51)
(2) Edward Cook in Islington in 1887
Daughter
Alice Andrews born St Pancras 1869 Died 1946
married in St Pancras 1869
Henry Wykes
See Parish RecordsWalland Parish Records
I had not received any new information on the Walland Family for some 12 years so this was a nice surprise.
Records from 1998 and 2001
In 1998 and 2001 respectively (prior to setting up the website) two correspondents sent me very detailed information about the Wallands.
I decided after all this time to have the documents scanned and have put them into the website:
Correspondence from 1998
I was provided with a family tree from Thomas & Elizabeth Whirland in 1692 to the children of Edward Albert & Nellie Walland who married c 1897.
and
5 Family Group Sheets from a relationship database for:
- Edward & Alice (Siggins) Walland who married in 1781
- Their son William who married Sarah Woodhouse in 1806
- Edward (also son of Edward & Susan) who married Mary Reynolds in 1813
- Their son Edward William who married Susannah Hutley in 1837
- Some Notes on Susan Hutley & her family
Corespondence from 2001
This amounted to an index to the Parish Records of Meldreth & Melbourn in Cambridgeshire 1628-1850 which I added to the Parish Records:
There were many references to Abbis Worland which I have extracted separately:
Collier Family
I decided to update the Introduction/Summary for the Collier Family:
and completed a list of the Parish Records obtained to date:
Until now, we have never sought to look into all the children of Charles Collier, Silk Weaver including Charles Collier, the Ropemaker. The research has proved to be an eye-opener and identified various gaps and queries:
The research took into account the family split some time between 1841 and 1851, when Charles Collier left his wife Eliza and took uo with Maria Sanders, who he married in 1863. The couple appear to have hit upon hard times with an entry in the Poor Law Records of 1858:July 2024 (Last update 24 February)
It was good to get back on the air after a glitch.
Collier Family Tree
The first enquiry I received was a complex one.
The writer believed her family tree to be:
William Collier born 1734
married 1759
Martha Draper born 1735
James Draper Collier born 1766
married 1785
Elizabeth Mason born 1765
Elizabeth Collier born c 1785-1788
married 1806
William Lesurf born 1770
There was DNA evidence that a cousin of Elizabeth had matches to sons of James Draper Collier but my correspondent could not trace Elizabeth's birth or baptism.
I looked at her family tree on Ancestry and compared it to another that had been published on Ancestry.
There were some similarities & differences and at least one error.
I have set my analysis out in a separate srticle:
The exchange of correspondence and the analysis has been extremely beneficial. Up until now the only information I had was:
James Collier, Silk Weaver born c 1765
married 1785
Elizabeth Mason born c 1765
Now I have:
1. The addition of James's middle name Draper
2. Details of his birth and baptism
3. the names of his parents and grandparents
4. the names of some additional siblings of James and Charles, including
Thomas Collier, a Silk Weaver like his brother James
Strangely, I was able to find just one other entry in the name of James Draper Collier:
Find a Grave Index
James Draper Collier
born 17.9.1766
died May 1836
buried St Matthews' Churchyard
Quite a welcome back!
It later transpired that the DNA of my correspondent and her cousin stretched to Charles Collier Chris' 2 x great grandfather, via Charles' daughter Clara.
The Death of William Rufus in 1100
I decided to have a break from the Family Tree & other Projects and look at something new.
Living in the New Forest area, I have been fascinated by the death of King William II (William Rufus) in a hunting accident in the Forest.
This remains one of the most famous "whodunnits" and cold cases of all times. It was a favourite story/interest of one of our most distinguished local historians Arthur Lloyd. Arthur maintained that one our most popular attractions, the Rufus Stone, was in the wrong place!
There is a dearth of facts about who killed William Rufus, where and why.
I intend to look for answers to some specific questions in the numerous books and articles that have been published.
Wish me luck!
Colin Bower
8 August 024
