A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Bowles, William
BOWLES, C.B., M.P. (Rear-Admiral of the Blue, 1841. f-p., 40; h-p., 11.)
William Bowles, born in 1780, is eldest son of Wm. Bowles, Esq., of Heale House, co. Wilts, by Dinah, daughter of the late Sir Thos. Frankland, R.N., Admiral of the White; nephew of the late Wm. Frankland, Esq., M.P., a Lord of the Admiralty, and of the late Sir Boyle Roche, Bart.; and first cousin of the present Capts. Edw. Augustus and Chas. Colville Frankland, and Henry Gosset, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 9 Sept. 1796, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Theseus 74, Capts. Augustus Montgomery and John Aylmer, employed in the Channel and off Cadiz; removed with the latter officer, as Midshipman, in June, 1797, to the Captain 74; served, from May, 1798, to Nov. 1800, in the Daphne 20, Capts. Sir Chas. Lindsay and Rich. Matson, on the North Sea and West India stations; then returned home in the Hydra frigate, Capt. Sir Fras. Laforey; and after a consecutive attachment to the Royal William, Capt. Fras. Pickmore, lying at Spithead, Acasta frigate, Capts. Edw. Fellowes and Jas. Athol Wood, in the Mediterranean, and Driver sloop, Capt. Fras. Wm. Fane, was appointed, 22 July, 1803, Acting-Lieutenant of the Cambrian 40, Capts. Barclay and John Poo Beresford, on the Halifax station, where he was confirmed by commission dated on 30 of the following Aug. Mr. Bowles, whom we next find serving in the Leander 50, flag-ship of Sir Andrew Mitchell, and Milan 38, Capt. Sir Robt. Laurie, both on the coast of North America, was promoted to the rank of Commander 22 Jan. 1806, and, on 25 March, 1807, appointed to the Zebra bomb, in which he accompanied Lord Gambler to Copenhagen, and came frequently into angry collision with the Danish batteries and flotilla. Having attained Post-rank on 13 Oct. in the same year, Capt. Bowles obtained temporary command, in Dec. 1808, of the Medusa frigate – as also, in June, l809, of the Warspite 74 – and again, in June, 1810, of the Medusa. While in the latter ship, we find him, in conjunction with the Spanish forces under General Porlier, contributing to the destruction of all the batteries (with the exception of Castro) from St. Sebastian to Santander, and, in July ensuing, particularly distinguishing himself by his zeal, ability, and indefatigable activity, as second in command of the naval brigade under Capt. Hon. Fred. Wm. Aylmer, in a successful engagement with a strong detachment of the enemy’s troops, consisting of between 700 and 800 men, near Santona.[1] He left the Medusa in Nov. 1810, and, on 29 March, 1811, joined the Aquilon 32, in which frigate, after conveying Lord Cathcart as Ambassador to St. Petersburg, and serving for some time in the Baltic (where, with the assistance of the Sheldrake sloop, he effected the destruction of seven large merchant-ships, in face of 1500 French soldiers, near Stralsund), he proceeded, in 1813, to South America, and was for twelve months employed in protecting our trade in the Rio de la Plata – a service which appears to have been gratefully acknowledged by a complimentary address from the British merchants residing at Buenos Ayres. Capt. Bowles returned home in April, 1814, on board the Ceres 32, but in May, 1816, he again sailed for the same station, where, with his broad pendant successively in the Amphion 32, and Creole 42, he commanded in chief until 1820. His constant attention to the interests of British commerce during that period was once more home testimony to by the mercantile representatives of Buenos Ayres, who voted him a piece of plate. Capt. Bowles’s next appointments were – 23 Jan. 1822, to the William and Mary yacht – and, 8 July following, to the Comptroller-Generalship of the Coast Guard, which he retained until advanced to his present rank, 23 Nov. 1841. Being intrusted with the conduct of a Particular Service, he hoisted his flag, 29 May, 1843, on board the Tyne 26, but shifted it afterwards to the Caledonia 120, in which it continued until May, 1844. Rear-Admiral Bowles – who had been appointed an extra naval Aide-de-Camp to William IV., 5 Sept. 1831, and nominated a C.B. 18 April, 1839 – filled a seat at the Board of Admiralty from 13 May, 1844, until the summer of 1846. He is at present unemployed.
The Rear-Admiral is M.P. for Launceston. He married, 9 Aug. 1820, the Hon. Frances Temple, sister of Viscount Palmerston, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, but has been a widower since 1838.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1810, pp. 1097-8.