Bowes of Streatlam in Surtees' The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, Vol. IV, pp. 107, 252.
Bowes of Streatlam in A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland for 1852, by Sir Bernard Burke, p. 129.
Sir Adam de Bowes, fourth son of Stephen de Bowes, who was fourth in descent from the above Fulco*, was a man "learned in the lawes," whom Edward III., in 1331, appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench. He was also Steward of Richmondshire and Seneschal to the Bishop of Durham. Through his wife Agnes, sole heir of Sir John Trayne, Knight, he became lord and owner of Streatlam Castle, county Durham, which henceforth became the family seat. [1]
* Fulco de Bowes' son Osbert was superintendent over construction of Bowes Castle in 1171. Osbert's role is believed to be the only connection the Bowes family had with Bowes Castle. [2]
The First Known Bearer of a Bowes Coat of Arms
We find the earliest mention on good authority of a Bowes coat of arms in Archaeologia Aeliana, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity:
BOWES. Ermine, three strung bows palewise gules.
The head of the family, Sir Adam Bowes, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, sealed with the arms on a fess three crosses between as many cross crosslets, but his grandsons Robert Bowes and William Bowes bore the canting arms [meaning showed archers' bows as a reflection of the name] as depicted [Foster's Some Feudal Coats of Arms] and they have ever since been borne by William Bowes's descendants, who became the famous Yorkshire family of that surname. [1]
This doesn't indicate that Sir Adam Bowes was the first to bear the coat of arms, but that he used it in his seal. Noting the association between his distinguished judicial status and the ermine background (denoting "the dignity of office of a judge, noble or king" [2]), it is entirely possible that the arms were first issued to him:
Sir Adam de Bowes, fourth son of Stephen de Bowes, who was fourth in descent from the above Fulco, was a man "learned in the lawes," whom Edward III., in 1331, appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench. He was also Steward of Richmondshire and Seneschal to the Bishop of Durham. Through his wife Agnes, sole heir of Sir John Trayne, Knight, he became lord and owner of Streatlam Castle, county Durham, which henceforth became the family seat. [3]
In addition, the fact that Adam's arms used crosses rather than the bows found in subsequent family arms might suggest that his were the first.
Though we can't be certain of an intended connection, the black on white ermine background is also the same as that on the Brittany arms. This Bowes lineage has early origins in the area of Bowes, England, then part of the Honour of Richmond. “The three earliest Lords of the Honour of Richmond were territorial Barons of the greatest importance in England, and also Counts of Brittany.” [4] Plantagenet Harrison's History of Yorkshire (1876) shows this family's name given as de Boghes and de Bowes on p. 330 and de Bowes, de Boghes and de Boughes on p. 351.
Under these names, they were seized [possessed] of lands as vassals of Stephen, Earl [sic] of Richmond, thought to have been a brother of Alan de Roux and Alan le Noir, they probably were cousins of these brothers as stated by Burke. [5]
Burke and Harrison both leave something to be desired as a final source, yet “the same historians … who severely criticised Plantagenet Harrison's pedigrees, willingly acknowledged his continuous and painstaking work in the Record Office, Harry Speight, in particular, describing the extracts made as ‘an invaluable reference in questions of manorial-title, and such subjects as concern the legal transmission of land.’” [6] This needs further research.
According to another researcher of the Bowes of Brompton, Adam's gradsons "a Robert de Bowes and a William de Bowes are mentioned in Rolls of Edward III (1327-77) as having Coat of Arms, ermine, three long bows 'tenduz' gules." [7]
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1. Bulmer, Bulmer's Topography, History and Directory (Private and Commercial) of North Yorkshire with Map, S & N Publishing, 2002.
2. Ibid.
1. Society of Antiquaries Of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Archaeologia Aeliana, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity. BiblioLife: 2009. [Citing Surtees Durham, vol. iv. part I., p 101 and Foster's Some Feudal Coats of Arms, 8vo[l] ed., p. 33, and the rolls there cited.]
2. Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005.
3. "BOWES: Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890." Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire (1890). URL: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/NRY/Bowes/Bowes90.html Accessed: 13 July 2010.
4. The Bowers-Bower-Bures Family in England URL: http://www.archive.org/stream/journalofamerica06natiuoft#page/568/mode/2up Accessed: 13 July 2010.
5. Ibid.
6. A review of [The History of Richmondshire (or The History of Yorkshire, vol 1) by Marshall General Plantagenet Harrison, H.K.G.] by Nancy McLaughlin URL: http://www.yorkshirecdbooks.com/Descriptions/RichmondshireHarrison.html Accessed: 13 July 2010.