William Bowles (1705 – 25 August 1780), was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

naturalist. Bowles was born near

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. He gave up the legal profession, for which he was destined, and in 1740 went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he studied natural history,

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

, and

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

. He subsequently traveled through France, investigating its natural history and mineral and other productions. In 1752, having become acquainted with Don

Antonio de Ulloa Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Giralt, FRS, FRSA, KOS (12 January 1716 – 3 July 1795) was a Spanish naval officer, scientist, and administrator. At the age of nineteen, he joined the French Geodesic Mission to what is now the country o ...

, afterwards admiral of the Spanish fleet, Bowles was induced to enter the Spanish service, being appointed to superintend the state mines and to form a collection of natural history and fit up a chemical laboratory. He first visited the

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

mines of

Almadén Almadén () is a town and municipality in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real, within the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The town is located at 4° 49' W and 38° 46' N and is 589 meters above sea level. Almadén is approximately 300 ...

, which had been seriously damaged by fire, and the plans he suggested were successfully adopted for their resuscitation. He afterwards traveled through Spain, investigating its minerals and natural history, living chiefly at

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and

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. He married a German, Anna Rustein, who was pensioned by the king of Spain after her husband's death. Bowles is described as tall and fine-looking, generous, honourable, active, ingenious, and well informed. His society was much valued in the best Spanish circles. He died at Madrid on 25 August 1780. The

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

Bowlesia (Ruiz & Pav. 1794) is named in his honour.José A. Mari Mut (2017-2021)
''Plant genera named after people (1753-1853)''
Ediciones Digitales, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, p. 78.

Works

Bowles's principal work was ''An Introduction to the Natural History and Physical Geography of Spain'', published in Spanish at Madrid in 1775. It is not systematically arranged, but has very considerable value as being the first work of its kind. The second edition (1782) was edited by Don J. N. de Azara, who rendered considerable assistance to the author in preparing the first edition. It was translated into French by Vicomte de Flavigny (Paris, 1776). An Italian edition, much enlarged by Azara, then Spanish ambassador at Rome, was published at Parma in 1784. Bowles was also the author of *''A Brief Account of the Spanish and German Mines'' (Phil. Trans. lvi.) *''A Letter on the Merino Sheep, &c.'' (Gent. Mag. May and June 1764) *''An Account of the Spanish Locusts'' (Madrid, 1781). Sir

John Talbot Dillon Sir John Talbot Dillon, 1st Baronet, Baron Dillon (1739 – 17 July 1805) was an Irish politician and baronet. Career Dillon was the son of Arthur Dillon and Elizabeth Lambert, daughter of Ralph Lambert; and grandson of Sir John Dillon of Lismul ...

's ''Travels through Spain'' (London, 1781) is very largely an adaptation of Bowles.

References

Bibliography

* Nathaniel Colgan (1911)
''An Irish Naturalist in Spain in the Eighteenth Century''
(pdf), ''The Irish Naturalist'', vol. 20, No. 1 (Jan., 1911), pp. 1-5 * Gabriel Sánchez Espinosa (2002)
''The work of the Irish naturalist Guillermo Bowles and the editorial policy of the Spanish enlightened government''
Queen’s University, Belfast. A translated summary (without footnotes) of his article “''La obra del naturalista Guillermo Bowles y la política editorial del gobierno ilustrado''”, ''Dieciocho'' 25 (2002), p. 255-280. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowles, William 1705 births 1780 deaths Irish naturalists Scientists from County Cork 18th-century Irish scientists 18th-century naturalists