Loughborough House, Lambeth: Benjamin Bowles’s life began as a member of a wealthy family of glass-makers
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Not all the documents and wills in the Croydon Minster archive give up the full details of the lives of long-dead parishioners, as DAVID MORGAN found with his latest researches
After reading Inside Croydon’s recent report which highlighted Croydon residents being among the most generous charity donors in the whole of London, I searched the archives of Croydon Minster to see which charities and good causes people from the past had supported.
In the old Parish Church, there was a black marble ledger which was placed in the Chancel. On it were etched the words:
“Here lyeth the body of Benjamin Bowles Esq, who died October 6th 1766, in the 60th year of his age”
The will of Benjamin Bowles revealed two charitable institutions which benefited from his bequests, as well as gifts for family members and friends.
But the story which I uncovered about Bowles went far beyond his charitable giving.
His will was signed and sealed on August 14 1766. Two months later, Bowles was dead, apparently the victim of a tragic accident. The Gentleman’s Monthly magazine reported his death as being “shot with his own gun”.
Death notice: the contemporary report of Bowles’ death
Another newspaper report gave a few more details: “On Monday as Benj. Bowles Esq. of Croydon in Surrey was out shooting (attended by his servant), by some accident his fowling-piece went off, and shot him under the breast, of which he instantly died.”
While the servant was never accused of any wrongdoing over the incident, it must be noted that Bowles had written into his will that any manservant who was living with him at the time of his death would receive a bequest of £10 – equivalent to more than £2,700 today.
“There’s your motive,” some people would say, if there was any gossip about the tragic shooting accident.
Bowles’s will was interesting in other ways, too, especially one sentence which stood out.
“I wish it was in my power to give… larger legacies but I have been obliged to sink a considerable part of my fortune to provide me a tolerable income.”
It is not everyone who apologies in their will for leaving smaller amounts of money than they had hoped. Neither is it usual for the will writer to blame themselves for their spending too much of their nest egg.
Perhaps his charitable giving has to be seen in the context of his diminishing bank balance. Bowles didn’t seem inclined to draw in his purse strings, though.
Despite his perceived financial constraints, Bowles still had a fair amount of capital when he died. He left two significant bequests, each of £100 – equivalent to more than £20,000 each. One was to the Magdalen Hospital in Goodman’s Fields, in Whitechapel. The other was to the Asylum near Westminster Bridge.
Dodd’s death: the hanging at Tyburn – where Marble Arch stands today – of the ‘Macaroni Parson’
The Magdalen Hospital was a new charity that had only been set up in 1758. It was intended to provide a home for female prostitutes and then restore them to their families. Six women were admitted on the first day it was opened and by 1769, 1,500 women had passed through its doors, most having stayed for three years.
The buildings were described as spacious and there was an octagonal chapel where a select portion of the female inmates were allowed to sing, although they performed from behind a screen.
One of the main drivers of the project was the Reverend Dr William Dodd.
This controversial clergyman lived an extravagant lifestyle which earned him the nickname of the “Macaroni Parson”. He often preached in the chapel at the Magdalen Hospital and was formally made chaplain there in 1761.
In June 1777, Dodd was accused and found guilty of forgery. He was hanged at Tyburn, despite a huge petition asking for clemency led by Samuel Johnson.
The other institution benefiting from Bowles’s bequest was an orphanage set up in 1758 by the magistrate, Sir John Fielding. The orphanage admitted girls aged nine to 15, training them for life in domestic service. They were taught to read and write.
When it opened, the building was advertised as an “Asylum or House of Refuge for Orphans and other deserted girls of the poor”. The intention of the institution was “to preserve poor friendless girls from ruin and render them useful members of the community”. In 1866 the Asylum moved to Carew Manor at Beddington. It remained there until 1943, when it moved premises to High Wycombe.
Asylum: Carew Manor in Beddington was the refuge for orphans through the 19th Century. St Mary’s Church (to the right of this engraving) remains today
Exactly why one person chooses to donate to one charity over another is not always clear. Bowles’s choice of giving to two charities which were set up to help young women for whom life was difficult was most commendable.
It contrasted with his own upbringing, being born in Loughborough House in Lambeth, to a family who had made a fortune from making glass.
Benjamin Bowles’s name also appeared in the Ancient Muniments of the Whitgift Foundation. In March 1769, John Dewye Parker sold four parcels of land to John Ruse. One of them, a four-acre enclosed plot named Combe Lane Field, was once owned by Bowles. In the indenture, it was stated that this piece of land was to be found near Combe Lane in the parish of Croydon and that “all ways, paths and water” were included in the deal.
Bowles took an interest in parish life. Francis Fawkes, the curate at the Parish Church who composed the Little Brown Jug drinking song, published a book of his poems in 1761. Bowles’s name appeared in the list of subscribers.
Generous benefactor: but Benjamin Bowles didn’t feel he was generous enough
Family legacies in Bowles’s will reveal a little of his lifestyle. His nephew, Richard Bowles, a captain in the Scots Guards, was evidently a favourite relative. He was left “my chariot, all my horses, but not my grey mare, my swords, guns, pistols, dogs and all my horse furniture”. Richard Bowles also received £100.
Seventeen other members of the family received a £10 legacy in the will, which revealed that Bowles had two brothers Humphrey and Richard who were still alive and a third, Robert, who had died.
From the details contained in the will, Benjamin Bowles never married. He left no instructions in that document as to where he should be buried, although Croydon Parish Church would have been the obvious choice.
Whether it was a surprise or not to the members of the family who read Bowles’s will, his choice of executor and benefactor from the residue of his estate after other legacies were paid was a young lady!
Henrietta Ann Cross was described as “a young lady living under the care of Mrs Hannah Cork in Maidstone in Kent”. As to the value of Miss Cross’s bequest, there is but speculation, as there would have been at the time about the relationship between a 60-year-old wealthy gentleman and a woman many years his junior.
Magdelen benefactor: the home for destitute women in London was one of the chief beneficaries of Benjamin Bowles’s will
Was Henrietta the last of a line of younger companions?
Whatever the relationship between Henrietta and Benjamin Bowles, she never married, dying in Maidstone in 1817, a spinster. She did leave property and money in her will. Was this estate bought from the Bowles’s inheritance?
What began as an exercise in looking to see what a resident of Croydon gave to charity has turned into an intriguing tale of a man, born into money but who never made the headlines either in politics or the military that other family members achieved.
- David Morgan is a former Croydon headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster, who offers tours or illustrated talks on the history around the Minster for local community groups
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- Artists in glass who gave the Minster its windows on the world
- Refugee family thrived in Croydon after fleeing savage attacks
- Minster carvings recall ancient traditions of The Green Man
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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