[Index]
John BOWCHER (1730 - )
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Ann BOWCHER (1757 - )
Elizabeth BOWCHER (1759 - )
Richard BOWCHER (1760 - )
John BOWCHER (1762 - 1828)
Deborah BOWCHER (1765 - )
Samuel BOWCHER (1768 - )
Henry BOWCHER (1772 - )
John BOWCHER (1730 - )

+

Deborah CHOWNE (1727 - 1788)

Ann SELLACK
John BOWCHER











Mary (BOWCHER)












b. abt 21 Aug 1730 at Crediton, Devon, England
m. (1) 11 Aug 1756 Deborah CHOWNE (1727 - 1788) at Exminster, Devon, England
m. (2) abt Sep 1788 Ann SELLACK at Devon, England
Parents:
John BOWCHER
Mary (BOWCHER)
Siblings (1):
Samuel BOWCHER (1734 - )
Children (7):
Ann BOWCHER (1757 - )
Elizabeth BOWCHER (1759 - )
Richard BOWCHER (1760 - )
John BOWCHER (1762 - 1828)
Deborah BOWCHER (1765 - )
Samuel BOWCHER (1768 - )
Henry BOWCHER (1772 - )
Grandchildren (29):
William PIDGEON (1779 - ), Charles Chown PIDGEON (1781 - ), Ann PIDGEON (1786 - ), Nathaniel PIDGEON (1789 - ), Deborah Ann PIDGEON (1792 - ), Rebecca PIDGEON (1796 - ), Julia PIDGEON (1801 - ), William BOWCHER (1787 - ), Deborah BOWCHER (1788 - 1862), John BOWCHER (1789 - ), Eleanor BOWCHER (1792 - 1863), Bathsheba Ann BOWCHER (1795 - 1863), Henry Chown BOWCHER (1797 - 1838), Richard BOWCHER (1800 - ), Jehoshabeth Alice Townsend BOWCHER (1804 - ), Caroline Elizabeth Cann BOWCHER (1806 - ), Mary BOWCHER (1788 - 1827), Sarah BOWCHER (1792 - 1814), John BOWCHER (1794 - 1862), William BOWCHER (1800 - 1804), Ann BOWCHER (1801 - 1898), Frederick James BOWCHER (1806 - 1877), Edward BOWCHER (1807 - 1877), Charles Henry BOWCHER (1808 - 1826), Eliza Ann Jane BOWCHER (1808 - 1892), Emma BOWCHER (1810 - 1854), William Townsend BOWCHER (1813 - 1877), Henry James Cann BOWCHER (1815 - 1864), Loveday BOWCHER (1793 - )
Events in John BOWCHER (1730 - )'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
abt 21 Aug 1730 John BOWCHER was born Crediton, Devon, England 12
21 Aug 1730 Baptism Crediton, Devon, England 2
11 Aug 1756 25 Married Deborah CHOWNE (aged 29) Exminster, Devon, England
Jul 1757 26 Birth of daughter Ann BOWCHER Exminster, Devon, England
bef 10 Jan 1759 28 Birth of daughter Elizabeth BOWCHER Exminster, Devon, England
bef 12 Jul 1760 29 Birth of son Richard BOWCHER Devon, England
Mar 1762 31 Birth of son John BOWCHER Kenton, Devon, England Ancestry
Aug 1765 35 Birth of daughter Deborah BOWCHER
Apr 1768 37 Birth of son Samuel BOWCHER
15 Jul 1772 41 Birth of son Henry BOWCHER
07 Feb 1788 57 Death of wife Deborah CHOWNE (aged 60) Exminster, Devon, England
abt Sep 1788 58 Married Ann SELLACK Devon, England 2
28 Feb 1828 97 Death of son John BOWCHER (aged 65) Exeter, Devon, England
Personal Notes:
Now back to the Bowchers! To try to lessen confusion about the three generations
of John Bowcher about whom quite a good deal is known, they will have to
be called John the First, John Second and John Third. It was rather puzzling sorting
out the generations of Johns, particularly as John First wed his second wife just
nine months after his son John Second married for the first time.
John First, the son of another John and Mary maiden-name-unknown, was born
at Crediton and baptised at the Church of the Holy Cross on 21 Aug 1730. On 11
Aug 1756 at Exminster he wed Deborah HILL by licence.
Source References:
2. Type: Book, Abbr: Devon to Downunder, Title: Devon to Downunder, Auth: Bettie Elworthy, Publ: Bookbound, Date: 1997
- Reference = 10, 13 (Name, Notes)
- Notes: The Kenton 1781 Land Tax Assessments show John Bowcher I as a land owner
and extensive leaseholder. He appears to have owned properties known as
Holmeads and Aliens and leased other lands - several parts of Chiverstone
Estate, Jopes and Prings. The rates for land he held in the Parish of Kenton alone
came to almost 18 pounds sterling per annum!
- Reference = 10 (Baptism)
- Notes: Three John Bowchers, sons of John and Mary, were baptised at Crediton in a six
year period from 1724. When a baby died, it was quite common practice to give the
same name to the next child of the same sex.

Because of this practice, the two Johns baptised 1724 and 1727 are presumed to
have died, whilst the surviving John bp 21 Aug 1730 is the first for whom there is
documented evidence. He had a brother Samuel 1734 but I did not find any
mention of him again in any records.
- Reference = 12, 13 (Marriage)
- Notes: John First, the son of another John and Mary maiden-name-unknown, was born
at Crediton and baptised at the Church of the Holy Cross on 21 Aug 1730. On 11
Aug 1756 at Exminster he wed Deborah HILL by licence.

During my early research into the Bowchers I felt there must be earlier, strong
connections to the Chowne family other than those I'd discovered in the 1780s, as
some of the Bowcher children had Chown/e as a second Christian name, implying
a close link. It really made my day when I found Deborah Hill was a widow, the
daughter of Ann and John CHOWNE, yeoman farmer of Spurway Farm at Exminster.

After Deborah's death on 07 Feb 1788, and although there were no small
children involved to warrant such a rush (they ranged in age from 16 to 31) John
wasted no time in remarrying. Seven months later, he wed Ann SELLACK but no
issue from this marriage was found. He either did not make a will or it has not
survived.

John and Deborah had seven children. The first three were baptised at
Exminster, literally "the church beside the River Exe", which in earlier times was a
secluded little hamlet about four miles south of Exeter.
Exminster was built on the western bank of an estuary and when the canal from
Exeter was extended by about five miles and a tidal lock put in place, the village
became quite famous. As there was no access by road, its Turf Hotel became the
only pub in England where beer was delivered by boat!

John and Deborah's youngest four were baptised at Kenton, just a few miles
further south. Kenton and Kenn, a neighbouring village were the areas to which the
famous female impersonator Danny La Rue was evacuated during World War II.
Kenton was an important centre in Tudor times, sending two ships to fight
against the Spanish Armada. It also supplied vessels for the fishing trade off
Newfoundland. Maybe its great claim to fame in later years was during World War II when one of the Kenton Home Guard captured a luckless German pilot whose
parachute deposited him in the village main street!

There were a few more children of Deborah nee Chowne and John Bowcher First
who should be mentioned. Deborah, 1764 at Kenton only lived two years; Samuel
was baptised in 1768; Henry 15 Jul1772 at Kenton wed Ann COFFIN just a week
after he turned 21. Four months later Ann produced a daughter named 'Loveday'.
12. Type: Web Page, Abbr: Genes reunited, Title: Genes
- Reference = Dianne Pidgeon tree (Birth)

This public tree has about 60,100 people. Every person in the tree is related by birth or marriage to at least one other person in the tree - no strays. The people in the tree come mainly from four projects.
  1. My family tree. The original project begun about 1998. ID numbers less than about 6,000
  2. Canberra and Queanbeyan Pioneers. The next 30,000 begun about 2004. Sourced almost entirely from HAGSOC's excellent 'Biographical Register of Canberra and Queanbeyan'. The project began when I decided to add siblings, spouses and parents for a relation with an entry in the Register. 12 years work.
  3. Wagga Pioneers. I moved to Wagga and thought I would extend the Queanbeyan project by adding people from Wagga Wagga & District Family History Society's 'Pioneers of Wagga Wagga and District'. About 10,300 people added over about a year.
  4. Tumut Valley Pioneers. During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, I decided to extend the above projects by adding pioneers of the Tumut Valley. Initial sources were Snowden's 'Pioneers of the Tumut Valley' and 'Relict of ... Lives of Pioneering Women of Tumut and District'. Excellent references published by Tumut Family History Group. I've also added material from newspapers of the time - especially, death records, obituaries and weddings from 'Tumut and Adelong Times'. This project is in its early stage and might take a few years. I plan to extend to the upper Monaro (Adaminaby, Kiandra, Cooma, Jindabyne).
I upload new information to this website about every 3 months. My motivation for these projects is to provide public information for people seeking to trace ancestors and what became of them. Much of the information I provide can be difficult to find.
If you find errors - anything incorrect (dates, places, wrong parents, wrong children), and you have evidence, I would love to fix them. Or, if you have information that would extend my projects, do not hestiate to contact me on the email link below. I do not publish information on living people - which means I'm not much interested in people born after about 1920, and I usually distrust material from before about 1770 without extremely good sources.
g.bell@bigpond.net.au
When you click the mail address abouve, if it does not open your email app, copy the address on the screen.
Geoff Bell, September 2020