===================================================================== Match: Bowles Source: [email protected] From: Howard Fuller <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [OXF] OFHS PRs for Milton, Berks. Hi Keith, As you say, the transcript of the Milton (Berkshire) parish register has no entry for the baptism of Richard Francis BOWLES in 1828, though the OFHS index to baptisms shows the baptisms of the other children of Thomas & Hester Sophia BOWLES at Milton: 1813 - Hester 1815 - John Samuel 1816 - Henry 1818 - Emily Harriet 1819 - Frederick Selwyn 1822 - Thomas 1826 - Samuel James 1830 - Frances Martha 1832 - Anna Mary 1834 - Alice Sophia As Milton was in Berkshire, its original parish registers have been deposited in the Berkshire Record Office at Reading. It is unfortunate that I can't easily go there as it would be useful to see whether the transcript is in error or whether there really were only three baptism entries in 1828, all in March. Perhaps someone else on this List could do this for us? ===================== Are you aware that Thomas & Hester Sophia BOWLES lived at Milton Hill House? This is a beautiful Georgian Mansion in a large and attractive estate a mile or so to the south of the village itself. The house and its estate have an interesting history. The estate is described in the Domesday Book of 1087 as belonging to Abingdon Abbey. After Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, the Manor of Milton came into the hands of Thomas CALTON, a London goldsmith, and he built the first house at Milton Hill. In 1746 the Manor was sold to George COLBROOKE, and in 1776 he sold 'Heath Farm' up on the hill to John BOWLES of Abingdon, who enclosed the park. When John died in 1796, he left the estate to his son Thomas (your Thomas), and it was Thomas who built the House as we know it today. Thomas and his wife Hester Sophia SELLWOOD, of Abingdon, brought up their many children there. Thomas died in 1837, and was succeeded by John Samuel BOWLES, whose first wife was a granddaughter of Lord North who had lost the American colonies. Under the guidance of the architect Sir Gilbert Scott, John Samuel made many alterations to the House in the 1840s, adding many of the upstairs rooms and the painted ceiling in the Library. On his death in 1887, John Samuel was succeeded by his son Colonel Thomas John BOWLES who, after letting it to Charles MORRELL of Oxford for several years, sold the House and Estate in 1905 to Sir Frederick PRESTON. He in turn sold it in 1912 to Adam Mortimer SINGER, elder son of Isaac SINGER, of Niagara Falls, USA, founder of the sewing machine industry. Mortimer ran the Milton Hill Estate very actively, becoming well known for training race horses. He built houses for his workers, equipping them with novel modern facilities, such as a water supply and drainage and electricity generated on the estate. During the First World War he and his wife turned the House into a military hospital. He became a naturalised British Citizen and in 1920 was Knighted for his services. He died in 1936. Having lain empty for a few years, the Estate was bought in 1939 by the Esso Petroleum Company, who foreseeing World World 2, wanted an evacuation site for their Laboratories in central London. The national Petroleum Board also came to the site for its Accounts Department, and several temporary wooden huts were erected to house them. In subsequent years, after the Petroleum Board was disbanded, Esso set up its European Research Centre, and the wooden huts were replaced by more substantial buildings and new laboratories. The Mansion provided accommodation for visiting dignitaries from Esso companies worldwide. Both Mansion and Estate were carefully maintained, but in 1970 the Mansion and the Park were sold to the W H Smith books and stationery company. It changed hands again later and, with additional facilities, is now a Conference Centre and a very pleasant venue for weddings and other celebrations. As it happens, I worked for Esso Research at Milton Hill from 1946 until 1981... Howard Fuller > Checking on my BOWLES family from Milton Berks., I found that there > was no baptism for Richard Francis Bowles, son of Thomas & Hester > Sophia recorded in the OFHS PRs on fiche, transcribed in 2002, which > only show three baptisms in 1828 (all in March). However, the IGI > shows a baptism for him on 22 January 1828 and this is noted as an > "extracted" baptism, which can normally be accepted as fairly safe. > I know that Richard was born about that time, as he appears in the > 1881 census as a widower (born 1829), living in London, with his > son, and the IGI notoriously miscalculates the years of birth by not > taking into consideration that the censuses were always early in the > year. It seems almost certain that there is a transcription error in > the Milton PRs and it is possible that more than one baptism is > missing, looking at the low record of only three baptisms for that > year. Unfortunately I live over 3,000 miles away and cannot check it > personally for some considerable time. > Is there any possibility of SKS checking this out? If there are > omissions, hopefully OFHS will update their fiches. > > Kind regards > > Keith ======================================== ===================================================================== Match: Bowles Source: [email protected] From: Keith Hazell <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [OXF] OFHS PRs for Milton, Berks. Dear Howard Thank you so much for being SKS, and for the extra information on the Bowles family. My connection is actually through Hester Sophia SELLWOOD, who married Thomas Bowles in 1812. I hadn't realised that the house had been let to Charles Morrell, to whom I'm also connected, but looking at my records, I see that Charles' daughter Mary, married Walter CURVIE at Milton, St. Blaise in 1902. Once again, thank you for kindly answering my plea. Kind regards Keith