Queen Elizabeth and the Bowes-Lyon Name

The late Queen Elizabeth descends from John Lyon of Glamis Castle m. Mary Eleanor Bowes of Streatlam Castle in 1767.

1737-1776 - John Bowes-Lyon (born John Lyon), 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, Scottish politician and peer, married Mary Eleanor Bowes. He took her last name by request of her father and later added his back in.

1749-1800 - Mary Eleanor Bowes - Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, English playwright, among the wealthiest heiresses in Britain of the late 18th c., of Streatlam Castle. A book about her that makes a great read was published in 2009.

Not All Bowes Are Related to the Queen!

Many bearing the Bowes surname have been told by their family, or conclude from internet material, that they are related through their paternal line to the the late Queen Mother, but the Bowes Y-DNA Project, which studies direct paternal Bowes lineages, reveals numerous distinct genetic lines bearing the Bowes name and its variants. They cannot all be related to the Queen. In fact, so far we do not know the Y-DNA genetic markers of the Queen's ancestral Bowes surname lineage.

The Lyon Y-DNA markers carried by any of John (Bowes-)Lyon's direct male descendants have been established through the Lyon DNA project under the group for "Sir Adam Lyon, 1285."

⇰ We seek a male Bowes with a documentary trail to the Bowes family that married into the Lyon family to join our DNA project! Only direct male descendants of Mary Eleanor Bowes' uncle or distant male cousins could carry the Y-DNA associated with this Bowes surname line. Mary Eleanor Bowes was an only child so there is no direct male line from her immediate family. DNA testing is the only way many Bowes with limited documentary evidence might ever confirm a paternal line connection to the Royal Family, but we first need to establish the Y-DNA markers for this line.

Mary Eleanor's Ancestry for Finding a Modern Bowes Male Descendant [1]

Mary Eleanor's grandfather and great uncles were:

(12) Talbot Bowes (1649)

(1) Sir Adam Bowes (c1280) (2) Robert Bowes (c1310) (3) William Bowes (c1330) (4) Robert Bowes (c1360) (5) William Bowes (1389) (6) William Bowes II (1446) (7) Ralph Bowes (1468) (8) Richard Bowes (1498) (9) Sir George Bowes (1529) (10) Thomas Bowes (11) Thomas Bowes (1607)

He was was born in 1649, christened on 27 January 1650 in Barnard Castle, Durham, and died the same year.

(12) Thomas Bowes (1653)

He was born in 1653. He died in 1673.

(12) Anthony Bowes (1655)

He was born in 1655. I have an Anthony, "perhaps" the son of Thomas of Streatham, who was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge on 8 May 1669, who died young. May not be our Anthony because he supposedly died in 1657.

(12) John Bowes D.D. (1658)

He may be the twin brother of George. He was educated in Durham and was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge on 29 August 1676. Son of Thomas Bowes of Steatlam Castle, Durham. He attended Durham school. Matriculated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1676. Scholar 1679. B.A. 1680-1. M.A. 1684. Doctor of Divinity 1698. Incorporated at Oxford in 1704. Probably ordained deacon in Durham on 21 September 1684. Rector of Wycliffe, Yorkshire 1691-7. Prebend of Durham in 1696. Rector of Elwick, Durham, 1701-15. Rector of Bishop Wearmouth 1715-21. He died in 1721 and was buried in Durham Cathedral on 16 January 1721/2. The Brother of George (1676) and William (1672). John Bowes grandfather on his mother's side was the famous Anthony Maxton, D.D. who became Chaplain to the ill-fated King Charles I.

(12) George Bowes (1659)

Admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge on 29 August 1676. The third son of Thomas Bowes of Durham. Admitted at the Middle Temple on 15 May 1677. Solicitor-general to Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham in 1694. Recorder of the City of Durham in 1706. He married Anne Salvin. He Died on 14 May 1724 at the age of 65. He was buried at St. Mary-le-Bow. The Brother of John (admitted 1676) and William (admitted 1676)

(12) Sir William Bowes (1656) [Grandfather; "Of Streatlam Castle"]

Perhaps the second son of Thomas Bowes, of Streatlam Castle. He probably succeeded his father, Thomas Bowes. He was born in 1656/7. Of Streatlam Castle. Admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge on 26 May 1672. M.A. in 1675. Admitted at Gray's Inn on 4 June 1672. Of Barnhard Castle, Durham. Member of Parliament for Durham 1679-81-85, 1695-8, 1702-5. Knighted on 13 April 1684. He married Elizabeth Blakiston, the heiress of Gibside, near Gateshead, on 17 August 1691 at Tanfield. She was the daughter of Sir Francis Blakiston and Ann Bowes, the daughter of Sir George Bowes of Bradley Hall. From this marriage came much of the wealth of the Bowes family as the Gibside estates lay over rich coal seams and he had a hand in developing the iron works at Blaydon. He died on 16 January 1706/7 and was bured at Barnard Castle. Their children were William Blakiston, Thomas (d1722), George, Anne, Elizabeth, Jane and Margaret. One surviving symbol of their wealth is a the Bowes cup, a two handled gold cup created during the reign of Charles II. It is engraved with the arms and motto of Sir William Bowes. The cup was probably a race prize. In 1695 Sir William, a successful breeder of race horses, proposed to the Bishop of Durham that money be raised to buy trophies and plate to be raced for on Durham Moor. A cup of gold with the Bowes arms and crest would have been a lavish but appropriate prize, perhaps won at a race meeting in County Durham. The male representative of this line vested eventually in Thomas Bowes, of Bradley Hall, county Durham. The Earl of Strathmore descends in the female line through John Lyon who married the daughter of George Bowes.

Mary Eleanor's great-grandfather and great uncle were:

(11) Talbot Bowes (1603) "Of Streatlam Castle"

Of Streatlam Castle. He probably succeeded his uncle, Talbot Bowes and/or his father, Thomas. He was born on 29 May 1603 in Streatlam. A Talbot Bowes sold the Aske estate to Philip, Lord Wharton. There is a Talbot Bowes in the reign of Charles I in 1642. He died on 6 December 1654. I don't show a marriage or any children for Talbot. Another source makes it clear that he died unmarried.

(11) Thomas Bowes (1607) [Great-Grandfather; "Of Streatlam Castle"]

Of Streatlam Castle. He was baptized on 23 December 1607. He succeeded his brother, Talbot, at Streatlam. He was born in 1607. He married Anne Maxton, the daughter and co-heir of Anthony Maxton, prebendary of Durham and chaplain of Charles I. Their children were Talbot, Thomas, Anthony, William, John, George, Anne, Maxton, Jane, and Dorothy. He died in 1661.

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1. The Bowes Family - all entries copied with permission.

BOWES ONE-NAME STUDY

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Queen Elizabeth and the Bowes-Lyon Name