Events
Date of Birth: unknown.
Place of Birth: unknown.
Date of Burial: 20 November 1680.
Place of Burial: Disley, Cheshire.
The burial is recorded in the parish register.
Relationships
Father: unknown.
Mother: unknown.
Spouse: George Bowdon.
Mary names her late husband George Bowdon in her will.
Children:
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)
Thomas Bowdon (buried 19 December 1697 in Disley) married Elizabeth Lowe 14 June 1665 in Taxall, Cheshire.
Legh Godfrey Bowdon (buried 13 July 1705 in Disley).
Elizabeth Bowdon married Thomas Bower 18 April 1658 in Stockport, Cheshire.
Ann Bowdon married James Chetham.
Mary Bowdon (buried 5 May 1714 in Disley) married (1) William Leather 4 October 1663 in Taxall, Cheshire; married (2) David Blith 24 October 1686 in Disley.
George Bowdon (baptized 12 Jun 1643 in Disley - buried 24 June 1643 in Disley)
Margaret Bowdon (baptized 7 September 1645 in Disley - buried 26 February 1710/11 in Disley) married John Richardson 26 May 1669 in Disley.
Evidence
from the Disley parish register:
Nouember 8 1680
Marie Bowdon late wife of George Bowden of Disley was buried the— 20
Mary’s will:
In the name of God Amen the Ninith day of November in the yeare of our Lord God one thowsand six hundred seaventy & foure & in the twenty sixt. yeare of the Raigne of our Soveraigne Lord Charles the Second by the Grace of God King of England Scotland France & Ireland defendar of the Faith &c: I Mary Bowdon of Disley in the County of Chester widow Relict of George Bowdon late of Disley aforesaid yeoman deceased, being of p[er]fect Memory, blessed be God for all his Mercies, & Considering my End drawith neare doe make & declare my last will & Testament in man[n]er followeing, First I Giue my Soule into the Mercifull hands of God my Creator, assuredly hopeing for Eternall Life through the Merritts of Christ my blessed Saviour & Redeemer; My body I giue to the Earth whence it was to be buried in decent Man[n]er att the Discretion of my Execut[o]rs hereafter herein nominated & appoynted; And For disposing those wordly Goods wherewith God of his Goodness hath blessed mee, my minde & will is, That my Funerall Expences & all my Just debts be payd & discharged out of my whole Estate; Item I giue to my sonne Thomas Bowdon the bed which his father used to lie upon with its furniture being soe left by his father; my best blanketts & Curtaines & Furniture there unto belonging, Two paire of Sheets, Two pillow beares my best Large table Cloath which was my mothers halfe a dosen of my largest table Napkins which are marked for him, Item I giue to my daughter in law Elizabeth Bowdon his wife Two paire of my best gloues my silver bodkin & silver thimble: Item I giue to be sonn Legh Bowdon all the rest of my beds & bedding whatsoever, Two paire of Sheets Two pillow beares one table Cloath one dosen of table Napkins, which are marked for him; my new Sasse; Two of my best best [sic] pewter dishes, my Two best Pewter Candlesticks, one pewter bason, & one pewter Chamber Pott; Item I giue to my Grand daughter Hannah Bower my best purse & six shillings eight pence in it, & my best payre of kniues; Item I giue to my Grandsons William Leather, George Leather John Leather & Thomas Leather six shillings eight pence a peece; Item I giue to my Grand daughter Elizabeth Richardson six shillings eight pence: Item I giue to my Sister Fryer my best Gowne Item I giue to my Cosin Elizabeth Fryer my next best Gowne, one under petty coate one Shift & one Flaxin apron; Item I giue to my brother inlaw German Bowdon & to my Coson George Bowdon of Lyme, Tenn shillings a peece if they bee liueing att my decease: Item all the Rest of my Goods Cattells & Chattalls I giue and bequeath unto my sonns Thomas Bowdon Legh Bowdon, my daughters Elizabeth Bower, Ann Bowdon Mary Leather & Margrett Richardson, equally to be devided amongst them; Lastly I doe hereby Revoke all former wills, and doe Constitute ordaine & make my said sonns Thomas Bowdon & Legh Bowdon of Lyme in Handley in the said County of Chester yeomen; Executors of this my last will: In wittnesse whereof I haue hereunto putt my hand & seale the day & yeare First aboue written:/
Mary Bowden [seal]
her X marke.
Sealed signed & delivered and published & declared to be the last will & Testamt of the sayd Mary Bowdon in the presence of:
William Richardson
John Swindalls
his I marke
—-
Bee it remembred that the Foureteenth day of May A:o dni: 1676 the aboue named Mary Bowdon the Testator appointed the rasure in the Forty second line hereof between the words (Gowne Item) & the rasure in the beginning of the Forty Fourth line hereof before the word (one) to be made & further haue as follows. To her sister Ellen Hyde her best hatt & best petty coate; To Mary Richardson her Grand daughter six shillings eight pence; & To Anthony Hyde her brothers sonn, one Greene bed Cover
Mary Bowdon
X
her marke
In the presence of
William Richardson
John Swindells
his I marke
Disley.net gives a transcription of the probate inventory (I have not managed to track down a digital image of the original.) The appraisers were John Gaskell and John Richardson.
References
Parish registers of Disley, Cheshire. Digital images on Ancestry.com.
Will of Mary Bowdon of Disley. 1680, Diocese of Chester. Digital images on FamilySearch.org. ["England, Cheshire, Probate Records, 1492-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGBV-8Z3 : Sat Mar 09 20:19:13 UTC 2024), Entry for Mary Bowdon, 1682.]