Lady Deborah Bowring born Deborah Castle (30 July 1816 – 28 July 1902) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

suffragist and philanthropist.

Life

She was born in 1816. Her parents were Mary and Thomas Castle and they lived in Clifton near Bristol. Her parents were Unitarian. She was friends with

Mary Carpenter Mary Carpenter (3 April 1807 – 14 June 1877) was an English educational and social reformer. The daughter of a Unitarian minister, she founded a ragged school and reformatories, bringing previously unavailable educational opportunitie ...

, but she had stronger views about the need for women to demand the right to vote. When she was 42 she married Sir John Bowring on 8 November 1860. She was his second wife. as his first had died four years before. She had died of arsenic poisoning when dozens were killed when poison was added to flour in Hong Kong. John Bowring her new husband was the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

at the time. Deborah went to live in a new house in Exeter called "Claremont Villa". Her husband had travelled widely as he was a diplomat and linguist. Both of them joined the social circle in Exeter. She encouraged giving at their Unitarian church and she donated money to assist the Children's Band of Mercy, the

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (commonly referred to as RD&E), and with a main site sometimes known as Wonford Hospital, is a large teaching hospital situated in Exeter, Devon, England, and is run by the Royal Devon University Healthcare N ...

and the

Albert Memorial Museum Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) is a museum and art gallery in Exeter, Devon, the largest in the city. It holds significant and diverse collections in areas such as zoology, anthropology, fine art, local and overseas archaeo ...

. She became a vice-president of the ''Bristol and West of England Society for Women's Suffrage''. Her husband died in 1872 and the following year she published a book of his poetry to which she attached a biography she had written. In 1879 she was one of the people whose views were quoted in a book regarding women's opinions about women's suffrage. Bowring made the important point that although she paid taxes, she was denied political representation. She also confirmed her strong opinion regarding giving the vote to women.

Death and legacies

Bowring died in

Heavitree Heavitree is a historic village and parish situated formerly outside the walls of the City of Exeter in Devon, England, and is today an eastern district of that city. It was formerly the first significant village outside the city on the road to ...

near Exeter in 1902 still a vice-president of the Bristol and West of England Society for Women's Suffrage. She left a painting and a bust of her husband to the Albert Memorial Museum. Her husband had been one of the museum's founders and they had both supported it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowring, Deborah 1816 births 1902 deaths British suffragists People from Clifton, Bristol People from Exeter British Unitarians British philanthropists