Richard Bowlby
Richard Bowlby was born circa 1506 and died in 1553 at age 47.
Will: 12 Dec 1552.
Richard married Alison.
ORIGIN OF BOWLBY AS A SURNAME
Gunnor, second wife of Richard the Fearless, became Duchess Dowager of Normandy upon the death of her husband, and was the great grandmother of William, Duke of Normandy. Gunnor had two sisters, Wevis and Aveline, one of whom -- authorities disagree as to which one -- married Osborne Giffard, Sieur de Bolebec. The lands of Bolebec are today represented by Bolbec, a small town about twenty miles northeast of Le Havre in Normandy, France. Around 1053, Walter Giffard, Sieur de Bolebec, was rewarded for his support of his kinsman, William, Duke of Normandy, with the title of Counte de Longville, and after the Conquest of 1066, became the first Earl of Buckingham. Hugh de Bolebec, brother of Walter Giffard, also took part in the conquest. DOOMS DAY lists many properties under Hugo de Bolebec and Hugo de Bolebech as "tenant in capite" -- a tenant holding land immediately from the king. However, Hugh held other lands under his brother, and was subfeudatory to the Earl of Buckingham. Hugh’s descendants built Bolebec castle at Whitchurch, and held the title "Baron de Bolebec", The title descended through a daughter to the de Vere family, and became a secondary title to the Earls of Oxford, but the surname of Bolebec remained extent through other kinsmen as evidenced by land records in Buckingham and Yorkshire.
Today, the Bowlby family in England claims Hugh de Bolebec as founder of their family though records are insufficient to establish an unbroken line of descent. As in the case of most families, the Bowlbys depend upon the parish records, established in the mid-sixteenth century, for the documentation of a direct lineage. Charles Cotsford Bowlby found the earliest, continuous records for his family in the parish of Helmsley in North Riding, Yorkshire. He compiled "Pedigree of the Family of Bowlby from 1552 to 1915", a record of the family in England, and recorded it in the files of the College of Arms in January of 1915. Subsequently, this record has been published with additions in Burke’s PEERAGE AND BARONETAGE, and in his LANDED GENTRY. This record is of particular interest because it establishes the first five generations of the lineage in the American branch of the family considered here.
His children: John Bowlby (*) died before 25 Jun 1568. He had five other children; they and their descendants are not yet on this site.
Attention Bowlby Family Researchers: See the page dedicated to Bowlby Descendants. Note that most of the individuals on that page do not yet have their own dedicated entries, nor does that page contain most known Bowlbies. Feel free to get to work!
