Bowes Yorkshire Family History Guide

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Bowes is an Ancient Parish in the county of Yorkshire.

Other places in the parish include: Tar Hill, Tan Hill, Stoney Keld, Sleightholme, Mellwater, Low Fields, Gilmonby, Gillmonby, Gallow Hill, Bowes Cross, Boldron, and Applegarth Forest.

Riding: North Riding

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1670
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1615

Nonconformists include: Primitive Methodist, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Bowes Parish Registers

Yorkshire Bowes Parish Register, 1670-1837

Historical Directories

Bowes Yorkshire Principal Inhabitants Universal British Directory 1791

Bowes parish is divided into three townships: Bowes, Boldron, and Gilmonby. It lies 4 miles from Barnard-Castle, 15 from Richmond, and 13 from Brough. The following are the principal inhabitants of the three townships:

Gentry, &c.

Binks – , Esq. Chief Constable and Surveyor of the Windows

Petty – , Esq.

Rain Mrs. Widow

Taylor – , Esq.

Taylor Miss

Thompson – , Esq.

Clergy

Parker Rev. Joseph, Curate

Procter Rev. William, Master of the Grammar-school

Traders, &c.

Aislesby Michael, (F.) Butcher and Victualler

Alderson James, Farmer

Alderson Charles, Farmer

Alderson Thomas, Farmer

Alderson Thomas, Farmer

Anderson William, (F.)

Bailey John, (F.) Farmer

Bailey John, (F.)

Bailey George, Farmer

Bailey William, Farmer

Bailey William, Farmer and Bailiff

Baxter Matthew, (F.) Sheriff’s Bailiff

Bales William, Farmer

Banbredge Joseph, Weaver

Banbredge Thomas, Farmer

Banbredge Thomas, (F.)

Benson Robert, Innkeeper

Bowsfield John, (F.)

Brown William, (F.)

Brown John, (F.)

Brougham Peter, (F.) Hosier

Bowsfield Thomas, Farmer

Campbell John, Shoe-maker

Campbell James, Shoe-maker

Copland John, Shoe-maker

Coleson Gibson, Farmer

Coleson Joseph, Farmer

Clarkson George, (F.)

Clarkson George, Carpenter and Timber-merchant

Clarkson Joseph, Farmer

Clarkson William, Farmer

Clarkson Thomas, Farmer

Clesby Robert, Farmer

Clesby David, Farmer

Davidson Thomas, Victualler

Davies Robert, Farmer

Dawson Richard, Farmer

Denham Thomas, Shoe-maker

Denham George, (F.) Shoe-maker

Denham Thomas, (F.)

Denham George, (F.)

Dixon Thomas, Farmer

Dixon John, Farmer

Doode – , Boarding-school for Young Gentlemen

Douglas Mary, Toll-bar-keeper

Ewbank Elizabeth, Farmer

Grisdle Christopher, Innkeeper

Gaskel John, Farmer

Hamond Mary, (F.) Victualler

Hannah James, Farmer

Hareson John, Taylor

Harker James, (F.)

Herd James, Farmer

Heslop Thomas, Innkeeper

Heslop George, (F.)

Heslop Charles, Farmer

Heslop George, (F.)

Hindmore George, (F.)

Hobson William, (F.) Farmer

Hodgson Christopher, (F.) Farmer

Hunter George, Farmer

Hunter John, (F.)

Hurweth Robert, Slater

Jameson William, Mason

Johnson Edward, Boarding-school for Young Gentlemen

Johnson William, Farmer

Kitson Joseph, Blacksmith

Kell John, Blacksmith

Laidman Thomas, (F.)

Laidman Jonathan, (F.) Mason

Laidman Thomas, (F.)

Landman Jonathan, (F.) Farmer

Landrew Oliver, Farmer

Lockey Wm. and Christoph. Farmers

Longstaff John, Farmer

Marton Jane, Baker

Metcalfe Edward, Farmer

Metcalf Mary, Farmer

Metcalfe Ralph, Clogger

Milner John, Farmer and Schoolmaster

Middleton Edward, (F.)

Morley Danes, Farmer

Nicholson John, Toll-bar-keeper

Newton John, (F.)

Old James, Farmer

Peacock Ann, Shopkeeper

Peacock George, Taylor

Prat David, (F.) Coal-dealer

Parker Robert, Farmer

Railton James, Miller

Raine George, Farmer

Raine Joseph, Farmer

Raw Thomas, Farmer

Rawling John, Farmer

Richardson Hannah, (F.)

Richardson John, Baker

Roper William, Farmer

Roper Thomas, Taylor

Sayer William, Joiner and Parish Clerk

Sayer Christopher, Victualler

Sayer Wharton, Farmer

Sayer Charles, Taylor

Sayer Henry, (F.)

Sayer Henry, (F.) Victualler

Sayer Thomas, (F.)

Sayer James, (F.)

Shaw Joseph, Wheelwright

Stevenson Thomas, Farmer

Stodart John, Coal-dealer

Tatam – , Farmer

Thompson John, Farmer

Thompson Thomas, Farmer

Toardel Robert, Farmer

Tunstel Thomas, Farmer

Tunstall John, Varmer [sic]

Wade John, sen. Farmer

Wade John, jun. Farmer

Waler Thomas, Farmer

Walker John, Farmer

Walton John, Farmer

Walton William, Farmer

Watson Ralph, Taylor

Watson John, Butcher

Welson Christopher, Farmer

Welson John, (F.)

Westmorland Thomas, Farmer

Westmorland Robert, Farmer

Whitfield John, Farmer

Wilkinson Frances, Farmer

Wilkeson Richard, Farmer

Source: The Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce, and Manufacture 1791. Vol. 2.

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

BOWES, a village, a township, and a parish in the district of Teesdale, and N. R. Yorkshire. The village stands on the river Greta, and on the Roman road to Borough, adjacent to the South Durham and Lancashire Union railway, 4 miles SW of Barnard-Castle; and has a station on the railway, a post office under Darlington, and an inn. It consists chiefly of one long street; and formerly was a market-town. The Roman station of Lavatræ occupied its site; and many Roman inscriptions have been found here, one of them narrating the reparation of a bath for the first Thracian cohort.

The township includes also the hamlets of Bowes-Cross, Gallow-Hill, Low-Field, Mellwater, Sleightholme, Stoney-Keld, Applegarth-Forest, and part of Tan-Hill. Acres, 16,090. Real property, £7,405. Pop., 769. Houses, 154. The parish contains also the township of Gillmonby. Acres, 18,334. Real property, £8,890. Pop., 849. Houses, 169. The property is much subdivided.

Bowes House is the seat of T. Harrison, Esq. A quadrangular tower, 75 feet by 60, and about 53 feet high, part of a castle, built by Allan Niger, first Norman Earl of Richmond, stands on the crown of a hill. defended by a deep ditch; and is supposed to have been constructed of materials taken from the Roman station. A Roman aqueduct, formed for bringing water nearly 2 miles to the Roman baths at the station, was recently discovered. A natural bridge in limestone rock 16 feet in span, crosses the Greta, bears the name of God’s bridge, and is occasionally used as a carriage road. Much of the parish consists of the dreary mountainous tract of Stanemoor.

The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Ripon. Value, £90. Patron, T. Harrison, Esq. The church is an humble ancient building, partly Norman; and the churchyard contains the grave and monument of the two lovers commemorated in Mallet’s pathetic ballad of “Edwin and Emma.” A cheap boarding-school at Bowes, now extinct, is said to have been the Dothaboys Hall of Dickens’ “Nicholas Nickleby.” A grammar school, founded in 1693, has an endowed income of £261; other charities, £5.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Administration

  • County: Yorkshire
  • Civil Registration District: Teesdale
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Eastern Deaneries – Richmond
  • Diocese: Post-1835 – Ripon, Pre-1836 – York
  • Rural Deanery: Richmond
  • Poor Law Union: Teesdale
  • Hundred: West Gilling
  • Province: York