Sir George Bowyer, 6th and 2nd Baronet,

KStJ The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

, GCSG, KCPO (3 March 1783 – 1 July 1860), was a British politician. He sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in two periods between 1807 and 1818, first as a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

and then as a Whig. He was the son of

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir George Bowyer, 5th Baronet Admiral Sir George Bowyer, 5th and 1st Baronet (3 May 1740 – 6 December 1800), was a Royal Navy officer and politician of the eighteenth century. He participated in the Seven Years' War, fighting at the Battle of Minorca, Raid on Rochefort, an ...

, and his second wife Henrietta Brett, daughter of Admiral Sir Piercy Brett, and was born at Radley Hall in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. In 1800, he succeeded his father as

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. Bowyer was educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1804 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1807. He was commissioned as a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

Berkshire Militia The Royal Berkshire Militia was an auxiliary military regiment in the county of Berkshire in Southern England. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands, in 1572 and their service during the Armada Crisis and in the English Civil War, t ...

on 16 May 1803, but resigned on 13 March 1804.

Emma Elizabeth Thoyts Emma Elizabeth Thoyts (1860–1949), aka Mrs. John Hauntenville Cope, was an English palaeographer, amateur historian, and genealogist. Biography Emma Elizabeth Thoyts was born in Bryanston Square, Marylebone in Middlesex on 8 July 1860, the ...

, ''History of the Royal Berkshire Militia (Now 3rd Battalion Royal Berks Regiment)'', Sulhamstead, Berks, 1897/Scholar Select, ISBN 978-1-37645405-5, p. 260. At the 1807 general election, Bowyer was elected in the Tory interest as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, a seat which he held until his

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

in 1810 by appointment as Steward of the Manor of East Hendred. He returned to Parliament the following year as a Whig, when he was elected at an unopposed by-election in June 1811 as the MP for Abingdon, following the resignation of

Henry Bowyer Henry Bowyer (9 March 1786 – 18 October 1853) was a British politician. Bowyer was the third son of Sir George Bowyer, 5th Baronet. He attended Eton College between 1799 and 1802 and graduated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1805. He never ...

.Stooks Smith, p. 7. He was re-elected in

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege of ...

, defeating his Tory opponent by a margin of 112 votes to 11, and held the seat until the 1818 general election. In 1815, financial difficulties forced him to sell the contents of Radley Hall. As a consequence, he moved with his family to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, converting to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in 1850. On 19 November 1808, he married Anne Hammond Douglas, oldest daughter of Captain Sir Andrew Snape Douglas. They had three sons and a daughter.

Death

Bowyer died at

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but was buried at

Radley Radley is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of B ...

. He was succeeded in both baronetcies successively by his sons

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and William.

Honours

Bowyer was a Knight of the

Venerable Order of Saint John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

(KStJ), a Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

(GCSG) and a Knight Commander of the

Order of Pius IX The Order of Pope Pius IX ( it, Ordine di Pio IX), also referred as the Pian Order ( it, Ordine Piano), is a papal order of knighthood originally founded by Pope Pius IV in 1560. Currently, it is the highest honor conferred by the Holy See (bein ...

(KCPO).Gordon Gorman
''Converts to Rome'' (1885)
archive.org; accessed 17 April 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowyer, Sir George, 6th Baronet 1783 births 1860 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Royal Berkshire Militia officers Baronets in the Baronetage of England Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain English Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies People from Radley UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 Tory MPs (pre-1834) Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies English expatriates in Italy