James Bowen (1857 - 1924)

Born Mar 1857 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Beardmore) Bowen — married Jun 1875 in Shireoaks, Notts, England

Descendants

Died 1924 at about age 66 in Shireoaks, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile managers: John Bowen [send private message] and Michael Dufty [send private message]

Biography

This is from the autobiography of his granddaughter, Dorothy Dufty. My grandfather left home at an early age reported as 9 and made his way from Birmingham to Shireoaks where he worked in the colliery there and retired as a Deputy Manager. His wife was the maid at the vicarage and completely dominated by her husband. I remember them in their mid sixties as part of the household of my father’s sister and her husband which also included my parents and myself. I attended both their funerals as a toddler of 3 when my grandmother died age 66 in 1923 and a year later when my grandfather died age 67. The memory of these events is my earliest recollection and is associated with the sight of marguerites in the Shireoaks cemetary.

Notes According to Dorothy, James had 7 surviving children. Details for 6 are on Wikitree.

Census records from 1871 don't seem to match the leaving at age 9 story, putting him in still in Birmingham still at age 15 as a boxmaker living with stepfather Henry Hewlett.

1881 census puts him in Shireoaks as a coal miner at age 24 with 3 children

Some info about Shireoaks Colliery 53° 19′ 19.2″ N, 1° 9′ 50.4″ W

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/Album/Photographs-Of-Shireoaks-Colliery_5342/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shireoaks_Colliery

Original shaft was sunk in 1861 Residence was in Shireoaks Row, a row of 60 houses built for the mine.

The Coal Mining Industry in Barnsley, Rotherham and Worksop By Ken Wain Has a couple of pages about Shireoaks. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=_FBpCAAAQBAJ

The book Waterloo Shireoaks and Beyond By Graham Adwick has some recollections of living here from an unrelated person. Though does mention John and Don Bowen around 1930-40. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=Wz1OAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=shireoaks+mine&source=bl&ots=k2DJ_rH_4Z&sig=AMLu_wSCr3aCbTExV6JYX1kQM3Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI4u7uvKPQAhXMjpQKHUqCCNYQ6AEINzAF#v=onepage&q=bowen&f=false

Sources

• Autobiography of Dorothy Dufty, unpublished ~!993
• "Australia Deaths and Burials, 1816-1980," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTH5-Q1Q : accessed 15 June 2015), Alfred James Bowen, 29 Dec 1954; citing reference 12796; FHL microfilm 1,669,369.
• "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5Y1-DRK : 24 July 2015), James Bowen in entry for Henry Hewlett, 1871.

The image is viewable at findmypast. Visit Partner Site England and Wales Census, 1871

• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27K-7L1J : 18 August 2016), James Bowen, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 19, Piece/Folio 3306/134, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,968.