performed, by laying down buoys on the different banks and moorings for ships of the line; after which, and serving for some time as Captain of the Fleet under Earl St. Vincent, he resumed his seat at the Board[1].
In January 1809, Commissioner Bowen added to his well-earned fame, by the important services which he rendered to the brave troops, recently commanded by Sir John Moore, when embarking at Corunna, and for which he received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament. Since that period, we believe he has not been afloat. He became a Commissioner of the Navy about March, 1816.
In 1810, Commissioner Bowen received a letter from a distant relative, at that time Governor of Teneriffe, where his gallant brother fell; stating, that the magistrates of the island, out of regard for the memory of the deceased, and respect for the surviving relatives, had requested him to receive the gold seals, chain, and sword, of the late Captain Richard Bowen, which had been kept ever since, in the Town House of that island, as a record of their defeat of the English on that occasion, and which was all that they could recover belonging to him, the populace having stolen his watch and other valuables; the sword, chain, and seals, had been carefully preserved; and they requested the Governor to beg Commissioner Bowen would accept them, as they conceived such relics would be grateful to his feelings; and, as the two nations were then firmly united in a cause, which reflected equal honor on both, they did not wish to retain a trophy which could remind them that they had ever been opposed to each other.
Captain James Bowen, of the Phoenix frigate, eldest son of the subject of this memoir, died on the East India station, in 1812. In him, his country lost an active, brave, and skilful officer, and society an amiable and distinguished ornament.
Another son of the Commissioner’s, John, obtained post rank, January 22d, 1806. His youngest son, St. Vincent, was admitted into holy orders in 1823.
- ↑ Admiral Cormvallis rendezvoused at Falmoutb several times in 1805; and in the succeeding year, Commissioner Bowen conducted the fleet under Earl St. Vincent, consisting of five 3-deckers and eight other line-of-battle ships, into that port, where he moored them in safety.
