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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-GB link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>I’ve had a slightly closer look at this. Briefly:<o:p></o:p></span></p><ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>The Bridgwater (Pike apprentice) and Richard Offen’s Kent ironfounder seem to be unconnected after all<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>The Bowen enterprise had its roots firmly in Clerkenwell<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>If the 1808 foundation date is to be believed, then the business may have been started by Robert Bowen (b.1787-d.1838)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>It was continued after his death in 1838 by Mary Ann Bowen, his widow (who died in 1859) – and, interestingly, most of the known bells fall in the period when she was at the helm of the family business<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Gradually Robert and Mary Ann’s sons joined the business. They were<o:p></o:p></span></li><ul style='margin-top:0in' type=circle><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>George Mason Bowen (b.1814-d.1874)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Frederick Bowen (b.1820-d.1854)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Charles Bowen (b.1825-d.1868)<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>After the death of G.M. Bowen in 1874 the Phoenix foundry seems to have passed into the hands of others<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>The foundry was still in existence in 1944<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>The main bellfounding activity was in the years 1846-1859 with only a couple of bells outside that period. David Kelly has told me of another, dated 1848, that was used as a demonstration bell at Emberton, Bucks. I found a newspaper report of Bowen having supplied a bell to Pentonville Chapel (a daughter church of St.James, Clerkenwell) about 1873. George Dawson saw a school bell by Bowen & Co at Taylors in 2013, undated but from a school built in 1876. I imagine the undated Woodhall Spa bell – supposed to date from the 1890s – must date from little later than 1875.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>The </span>Post Office Directory, 1870, p.698, lists “Geo. Mason Bowen, brass, copper, church & turret bell founder & engineer. Phoenix foundry, 11 Dorrington st, Clerkenwell”. In 1871 the census entry for George Mason Bowen lists him as “brass founder employing 30 men & 10 boys”. This was clearly more than just a bellfoundry, and the casting of bells must have been a relatively minor aspect in a considerable larger business. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hope this is of interest<span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='color:#1F3864'>Chris Pickford</span></i></b><span style='color:#1F3864'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></body></html>