The earliest reference I have for my Bowles family in Ireland is a land deed memorial dated 19 January 1726 for John Bowles of Carlow, shoemaker, for the lease of his home, shop and garden on Tullow Street in Carlow. The lease was for the term of three lives including 'John Bowles first son to the said William Bowles aged about five years'. The term 'the said William Bowles' is a legal term referring to a person (William Bowles) who has been already identified in the legal document however there is no mention of a William Bowles in the document at all (both the memorial transcript and the original memorial have been checked) so the 5 year old John Bowles must have been the son of the John Bowles, shoemaker, of Carlow in January 1726 placing his date of birth as in 1720. The clerk probably incorrectly picked up the surname William from the seller of the lease, William Hunt whose son Frederick was listed as one of the other lives for the term of the lease, rather than from the purchaser.
The next reference is in a deed memorial dated 27 July 1750 signed between William Cooper of Shraugh (later called Cooper Hill) and John Bowles of Ballickmoyler, Queens county, a perukemaker (ie. a specialized leather worked who made wigs for the gentry), for the land and croft in Ballickmoyler then in the possession of his mother Mary Bowles. The wording of the lease indicates that it is a new lease replacing a previous lease which had been in effect for some time and which required a change to the terms of the original lease. The simplest explanation for this would be that a John Bowles Sr. and wife Mary had leased the land earlier but that John Bowles Sr. had recently died leaving the land only in Mary's name but that since women could not then hold land the new lease placed it in her son John Bowles Jr.'s hands. Although this lease was signed in 1750 it was only registered in the land office in 1767. As the lease had contained a consideration that the annual charge on the lease would be 5 pounds for the life of Mary Bowles after which it would be increased to 6 pounds the lease was probaly only registered in 1767 upon Mary's death in order to justify the increase in rent that year.
The 1750 memorial gives us a detailed legal description of the Bowles holding in Ballickmoyler as 'containing by estimation in the whole 6 acres plantation measure more or less situated in the Queen’s county and barony of Slewmarragh bounded on the north east from the High Road by Adam Taylor’s Orchard and from thence on the north and northwest by said Taylor’s holding from thence on the west by the Miller’s holding to the said High Road and crossing the said High Road near the New Water Course lately made by the said William Cooper bounded by the brook commonly called the Millstream to the ditch that divides the piece of ground / part of the said Demised premises / formerly planted by said William Cooper with Hops from the field commonly called or known by the name of Acrasheroon and on the south east by the said ditch to the Croft or garden then in tenure to John Murray and by said Croft or garden to the High Road aforesaid and so by said High Road to Adam Taylor’s orchard as aforesaid'.
John Bowles Jr's date of death as in 1802 is based on a John Bowles listed in the Index to Leighlin Administrations Intestate for 1803.
