Miles Bowker

1759 - 1839

The early Bowkers come from Branford and Blackeley parish in Manchester in England.  We know that the Bowker family paid rates at St. Peter's church in Blackeley.  Ralph Bowker's name appears in the Subsidy Roll of 1541 and his great-grandson was Miles Bowker, the 1820 Settler to South Africa.

It is not know for sure where Miles was born but it is thought it was in Gateshead.  As yet I have not been able to trace a birth certificate or any record of his birth.

It was Miles' father who bought Deckhams Hall in Gateshead.  Below is a photo of a sketch of Deckhams Hall which I took while visiting Andrew Bowker, also a descendant of Miles Bowker.  Deckhams Hall was demolished in 1934.

Sketch of Deckhams Hall in Gateshead, England

Miles was born in 1764, no baptism record has been found for him.  He was a successful sheep farmer in the Cheviot Hills when he fell in love with Anna Mitford, daughter of John Mitford of Mitford Castle, a family descended from Edward the Confessor.  They were married on 8th March 1800 in Mitford Church, near Morpeth, Northumberland.

Sometime after his marriage he and Anna Maria left the north to farm merio sheep at Cherborough Park in Devon.  After 8 years he leased Manor Farm from the Earl of Pembroke.  It is thought that this farm in near the village of South Newington.  It was while here that Miles and Anna Maria Bowker decided to join the Earl of Bathurst's scheme and leave for southern Africa.

Read Miles Bowker's letters, click here.

They left England (with 9 children) around the 5th December 1799 and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope 5 months later, it took another 3 weeks before they reached Algoa Bay, now Port Elizabeth.   The Settlers then had to travel another 130 miles overland before they reached the area in which they were to settle. Their youngest daughter Anna Maria Bowker was born in Table Bay while on their way to Algoa Bay which is now Port Elizabeth.

Frederick T'Ions painting - believed to be the Bowker family on their way to Tharfield from Algoa Bay

Miles Bowker, his family and retainers were first given 'Oliveburn' which proved too small for them, and later they were also give Tharfield.  The sheep did not like the area of Tharfield but proved successful on Oliveburn, while cattle preferred Tharfield.

Bust of Miles Bowker in the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa

Miles Bowker was 75 when he died early in 1839 and is buried on Tharfield.  By this time his 4 elder sons were already married and had farms of their own.  They were all successful sheep farmers. His fourth son Holden, inherited Tharfield.

The Bowker Cemetery on Tharfield, Miles Bowker's marker is 2nd from right

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© Copyright Margaret C Manning 2007