Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

Phineas Bowles (24 January 1690 – 22 October 1749) of Beaulieu, Dublin, was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1735 to 1741. Bowles was a younger son of Phineas Bowles of St. Michael's, Crooked Lane, London, and Loughborough House, Lambeth, and his wife Margaret Dockwra, daughter of William Dockwra, merchant of London. He joined the army and was a Captain in the Inniskilling Fusiliers in 1710, taking part in the campaigns of 1710 to 1711 under the

Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was a British army officer and statesman. From a gentry family, he ...

. He became captain and lieutenant-colonel of the

3rd Foot Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Kingdom of Scotland, although ...

in 1713. In 1719 he succeeded his cousin, Major-General Phineas Bowles, as colonel of the

12th Lancers The 12th (Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war ...

in Ireland and commanded the regiment in Ireland until 1740. He married Alethea Maria Hill, daughter and heiress of Samuel Hill of

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. History Origins Kilmainham's foundation dates ...

, Dublin under a settlement dated 7 and 8 June 1724. He became a brigadier-general in 1735. Bowles was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Bewdley Bewdley ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley, and is west of Kidderminster, north of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham. It ...

at a by-election on 20 February 1735 to replace his elder brother

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, who chose to sit for

Bridport Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

. He voted with the Administration and was promoted to major-general in 1739 and appointed Governor of Limerick. He became colonel of the

6th Dragoon Guards The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1685 as the Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740, the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carab ...

in 1740 and served with them for the rest of his life. He did not stand at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

when his brother took up the seat at Bewdley again. Bowles was promoted to lieutenant-general on 27 May 1745 and was appointed

Governor of Londonderry The Governor of Londonderry and Culmore was a British military appointment. The Governor was the officer who commanded the garrison and fortifications of the city of Derry and of Culmore fort. The Governor was paid by The Honourable The Irish So ...

. He died in Dublin on 22 October 1749, leaving two sons and a daughter. He left a fortune of over £200,000.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowles, Phineas 1690 births 1749 deaths British Army lieutenant generals Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1734–1741 Scots Guards officers 12th Royal Lancers officers Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) officers