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John Bowles' Court Case 1832 Back to Michael Bowles of Ontario, county The court's file on the case is available at the Quebec National Archives. Since there were so many John Bowles in my family history, here is a quick tree of where this one fits in. The John Bowles charged in the court case is at 3.1 in the following tree: Michael Bowles (ca. 1744 - ca. 1820 Ireland) 1. John Bowles (1773-1840, emigrated to Quebec City in 1819) 1.1 John Bowles (1811-1886, came to Quebec City with father in 1819, settled in Brighton, Ont.) 2. Joseph Bowles (1777-1843, emigrated to Quebec City in 1831) 3. Michael Bowles (1778-1872, emigrated to Reach, Ontario by 1842; died in Whitby, Ont.) 3.1 John Bowles (1806-1871, emigrated to Quebec City with his Uncle John in 1819, moved on to Whitby, Ont. in 1833)John had been charged on June 2, 1832 to be the
father of the child of one of his co-workers in the Albion Hotel and a
claim for 200£ was made for the mothe John's court date to answer the charges was June 6th but there are no further papers until July 17, 1832 so his lawyer had likely requested more time to work on the case.
On July 17 John appeared in court to enter a Not Guilty plea. The trial was held on Oct. 15 during which a witness stated that the child had since died (there was a major cholera epidemic in Quebec City in the summer of 1832). Robert Bell (the witness at the child's baptism) testified that the child had been delivered at his house on May 25 and that the Defendant had then come to visit the mother. Another witness stated that John had said to him that he would not pay "more than the law required him to or he would have the child." The final hearing date was then set for Dec. 13. The document submitted by John Bowles Sr. on Dec. 11 for the Defendant also mentions that he had gone to the mother to offer her money in an attempt to stop the court action which was damaging his family's reputation and he also mentioned that his nephew "is now immediately about to leave the province". After the Dec. 13 hearing the judge deliberated until Feb. 9, 1833 when he found for the plaintiff in the sum of 12£ 10s for her medical bills as child support was no longer needed. On Feb. 13, the mother countered with a demand for 23£ 19s 4d for her expenses so John must have still been in the area. However, there are no further papers, nothing to say whether John paid either sum or what happened next. In fact there are no further references to him in Quebec City at all after that. By 1834, a John Bowles and his wife, Elizabeth Green, were living in Whitby, Ontario. Their first son, William had been born in 1833 (age 28 in the 1861 Census) or 1834 (his death certificate states that he was born on May 28, 1834 in Whitby). |
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expenses and to cover the child's maintenance until age 12. The
child was 8 days old at that time. The baptismal register for the
Wesleyan Methodist Church in Quebec City has an entry for John Bowles,
son of John Bowles of the City of Quebec, Servant, and of Elizabeth
Crumlis born on May 25 and bp. on May 27, 1832. Neither parent
signed as a witness only a Robert Bell. 