> Hi Gordon; > I don't know of your Trained Bands but, is there any mention of a Sir > William Bowles who was Master of his Majesty's Tents, ?. ?. and Pavilions. > In his will Sir William mentions that his son Wm Bartholemew Bowles will > take over the office after his decease. I have been unable to find out > exactly what was required of this position, or the correct title. In his > will of 1681 he mentions that King Charles 11 owed him mega money. > Thanks for any info and good luck on your Trained Bands. > Mary No, my books ("The King's Peace" and "The King's War", both by C V Wedgwood) don't mention either of those Bowleses, but they do mention a Captain Charles Bowles who died in the King's service at the minor Battle of Alton. By the way, on the Trained Bands: some of them must have been quite well trained, at that. The London Trained Bands were headed by a General (or, he was called a General, at least) - Philip Skippon, who later became a Major-General in the New Model Army. They stopped the King's Army at Brentford, in one of the early skirmishes of the Civil War. Gordon