Preliminary placement on the Bowen family web
Not yet ready for general release

 

 

Preamble

This is an exercise in researching the ancestry of persons such as Richard Bowen of KittleHill, Glamorganshire Wales and Rehoboth Mass. and families of those others that emigrated to America before ca.1820.
To present the various of points of view, theories and available "evidence" concerning the case of the one commonly known as Richard Bowen of Rehoboth.
To layout the names and places associated with the various Bowen families in Wales,Scotland & Ireland.
To sort out and list known name variations applied to the same person or place.

We will attemt to answer questions such as;

Is Richard Bowen of Kittle Hill Glamorganshire Wales and Rehoboth Mass. America the son of James Bowen & Eleanor Griffith of Llwyngwair,PembrokeShire Wales ?
Or
Did this Richard, the son of James Bowen and Eleanor die in Wales, having never traveled to America or bearing children?
or
Was Richard Bowen b. ca. 1580,at Ilston,Gower,Glamorgan the son of Thomas Bowen of New Court and Jane Williams.

What is the relationship between Richard Bowen of Kittle Hill,on the Gower Penninsula in Swansea,Glamorgan shire Wales and later of Rehoboth Mass. in America and Griffith Bowen, born about 1590,of Llangynwyd Glamorgan Shire, Wales?

Griffith Bowen is commonly argued to have been the first Bowen in America but,is Griffith the son of Owen Bowen and Ellen Lloyd Bowen? Or is Griffith Bowen Born at Slade or Burryhead in the County of Glamorganshire Wales, the son of Francis Bowen and Ellen Franklin?

Just what and where were the various Bowen clans located in Wales, Ireland & Scotland? What information can be gathered about their families, in particular the families of those that emigrated to the new world ?

On family genealogical research web sites, there are many that list Richard Bowen as descending from Sir James Bowen, There are those that note the evidence and sources they are citing, there are others that simply state it as fact, and while the true lineage of Richard Bowen of Glamorganshire and Rehoboth may never be proven or dis-proven to the satisfaction of everyone, those claiming lineage should be aware of the known facts, the discrepencies between published materials and the information and methodology used by various researchers to develop their theories.

What Piqued our interest was in part that Carl Boyer, the author of the book Ancestral Lines and How to publish and market your family history has written "...an effort to convince descendants that published theories, as well as those in the files of Richard LeBaron Bowen, have been rejected for cause." for instance that Richard Bowen of Glamorganshire, South Wales and Rehoboth Mass. is descendant of Sir James Bowen of Llwyngwair Wales and that his first wife was named Ann Bourne.
Mr Boyer notes that documents [Peniarth MS No. 268 at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth] clearly lists James Bowen of Llwyngwair Wales children, with Richard and two others labeled mort, or deceased, with no issue.

For those persons researching their ancestry please make note that this publication should not be used as source material,instead it should be used at best as a compass into investigating the true lineage of your family. This study came about from seeing an often repeated question and often repeated lineages posted and written in various locations in print and in digital form questioning and/or stating the "factual" lineage and descendancy of the aforementioned gentlemen, Richard and Griffith Bowen, Americans.

While I have no claim to the lineage of Richard Bowen of Rehoboth, I will attempt to gather and present factual data,source the material placed here and eliminate the mis-spellings of names and places as well as include the various name forms and conventions particular to different regions of the world that a researcher might come across in investigating this line.This project will certainly be of little value to those that have done research into their particular line that contains persons named here. This may however aid those persons just beginning their search into their family histories.

As anyone knows that does research into genealogical or family history, researchers may record the same data in different ways. A Welsh researcher may for example use the "old" way of recording a name such as Agnes Verch Howell ap James or perhaps Agnes Verch Hywell dau of James ap Hywel of Trellwyn, while others may record her name as Agnes Howell. All of these monickers signify the same person, just in different ways.

There are also great variances on many of the on-line sources in the spelling of the physical places, many messages on message boards are placed there with incorrect spellings of persons and places such as villages,towns or counties in Wales or even naming places that one is from that simply do not exist on any modern or ancient map. One should do some basic investigating before asking if anyone has information concerning a specific person from a specific place to make sure that at least the spellings are correct or that a place in the world exists or existed.

As Mr. C.D. notes below "It's almost stunning to see how many are easily led astray because they never bother to do their own research. Hence, theory becomes accepted as fact, and misinformation continues to be passed on."

Very often in researching one's family lineage persons "buy into" ready made family lines presented by on-line resources, printed materials or poorly researched family records. Many amateur family researchers are eager for their lineage to be directly linked to ancient royalty or other important or famous persons. Perhaps indirect and "off the beaten path" linkages can be made to any specific person back to any other specific person. There is after all the theory of six degrees of seperation.
I have seen lineages presented that trace Bowen family lines back to Adam and Eve,even though these are usually labeled as speculative.

If one begins doing research into family history and origins, one will see that the discovery of facts or information often leads to more questions than answers. Sometimes "facts" contradict each other, or dis-prove previously known "facts". It is very difficult for a researcher to "throw away " work that one has compiled and accepted as source or factual information when new and contradictory or dis-proving information is found, particularly when many hours are spent in the gathering and compiling of this information.
If information that is speculative is placed into the record it should be labled and presented as such. If such information without proper documentation and proof is presented as factual, what we tend to get, particularly in the information age is the viscious cycle of perpetuating unproven theories of family lineage and ancestry. This serves no one well, as the the objective in searching should be the discovery of truth.

Here I will present the research of others as well as my own in an attempt to clarify the facts surrounding he who is commonly known as Richard Bowen of Rehoboth.

A case in point : The posting presented below found on a genforum message board is very indicitive of many unproven theories posted on the WWW concerning Richard Bowen of Rehoboth Mass.

Richard Bowen b. bet 1580 and 1600 in Kittle Hill, Glamorganshire, Wales the son of Sir James Bowen from Ilewyndwar,( No name "Ilewyndwar" found in search on genuki) [ generally noted as Llwyngwair ] Pembrokeshire, Wales married Ann Bourne in 1618.

The key line in her post is " I can't go forward or backward and I must be related to them somehow if this information was found in the family records."

This statement is completely a false or misdirected one. The statement should read.

" I can not go forward or backward on this line and have no documentation as to whether the information I have found in family records is true or false. Does anyone have direct information on this line? Could anyone point me in a direction that can help to tear this "brick wall" down?"

 

Posted by: K****J****** (ID *****6308) Date: May 29, 2003 at 00:04:08of 5245

I have a Bowen line here that is strictly 1600s. I can't go forward or backward and I must be related to them somehow if this information was found in the family records. Here's what I have so far:

>Mathias Bowen

>James Bowen

-m. Eleanor

-from Ilewyndwar, Pembrokeshire, Wales

>Richard Bowen

-b. bet 1580 and 1600 in Kittle Hill, Glamorganshire, Wales

-d. 4 Feb 1674 in Rehoboth, Bristol Co., MA

-m. Ann Bourn (b. abt 1605 in Llwyngwair, Wales) in 1618 in Wales

-m. Esther/Elizabeth Sutton 4 Mar 1648

-9 children (George, William, Sarah, Ruth, John, Alice/Alica, Obadiah, Thomas, and Richard Jr.)

-Immigrated to America in abt 1638 and settled in Rehoboth, MA

I also have info on the marriage of Obadiah and his family and the spouses of his children. Any info on this line would be helpful even though it appears that everyone else's info is 1700s or later.

Thanks,

KLJ

Note the somewhat agitated response :

Posted by: C.D. Date: June 27, 2003 at 14:36:37

In Reply to: Bowens in the 17th Century by K.J. of 5245

K.:

As you're obviously one of those who choose to buy into the false information regarding Richard Bowen, I have a very simple challenge for you -- prove it! There is NO document to prove who Richard's parents were, nor is there any proof of Ann's (Bourne's) surname!
It's almost stunning to see how many are easily led astray because they never bother to do their own research. Hence, theory becomes accepted as fact, and misinformation continues to be passed on.

Since I'm descended from two of the children, Sarah and Obadiah, I am quite familiar with Richard's family, and I have years of research experience behind me.

Good luck with your fiction.

See the post [ http://genforum.genealogy.com/bowen/messages/5189.html ]

 

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Tracing the Bowen clan from Wales, Scotland & Ireland

 

Links to on-site pages

[ Our purpose : The Preamble ] [ Contents ][ Identifying persons named ] [ Locating places named ]

[ Extraction believed to have been done by Ken Bowen from the book "Ancestral Lines" by Carl Boyer. ]

[ Maps of Wales ] [ Wales : Counties and Shires ]

[ Bowens of Wales ] [ Bowen Sheriff's of Pembrokeshire, Wales : About Pembrokeshire ]

[ The Last Will and Testament of Richard Bowin, Sr. of Rehoboth Mass. June 4, 1675 ]

[ The Inventory of the Estate of Richard Bowen Sr. of Rehoboth Mass. June 4, 1675 ]

 

 

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