JOHN BOWNE (1627-1695): RECORDS OF MARRIED LIFE
1662 letter from John Bowne to Hannah (Feake) Bowne, sent from jail in New Amsterdam (detail)
John Bowne was married three times, not unusually for a 17th-century person who lived to the ripe old age of 68 years in an era of high mortality. The Bowne House Archives contains records relating to the first two of his three unions.
I. Hannah Feake Bowne (1637-1678)
John Bowne, age 28, married Hannah Feake of Flushing, age 18, on 7 May 1656 Old Style (17 May 1656 New Style).
She died, aged 40 years, on 31 January 1677/8 Old Style (10 February 1678 New Style), after 22 years of marriage.
They had eight children together.
Hannah (Feake) Bowne was not just the Bowne House matriarch; she was also an early female Quaker preacher and missionary whose faith took her throughout the Colonies, the British Isles, and the Low Countries, while John Bowne minded farm and family at home. To read more about the life of this pioneering woman and her remarkable relationship with John Bowne, and to see a complete list of her surviving papers in the Bowne House Archives, visit The Papers of Hannah Feake Bowne.
John’s letters to Hannah, letters addressed to them as a couple, and his testimony at her memorial are categorized here as “marital records.” Click the “View” button beside each item in the list below for an image and description of the document. A PDF copy and annotated transcription are also available. (Note that the dates are given in the Quaker style of the original documents, using numbers instead of names for the months.)
RECORDS OF JOHN & HANNAH (FEAKE) BOWNE
BFP 2018.1.03-01: Letter from John Bowne to Hannah Bowne, written in jail at New Amsterdam; 5th of 9th month [November] 1662 Old Style
BFP 2018.1.03-02: Letter from John Bowne to Hannah Bowne, written in exile at Amsterdam; 9th of 4th month [June] 1663 New Style
BFP 2018.1.03-03: Letter from John Bowne to Hannah Bowne in Maryland, 18th of 1st month [March] 1774/5 Old Style
BFP 2018.1.03-08B: Letter from Joan Brocksopp to Ann Easton, sent c/o John and Hannah Bowne, 23rd of 6th month [August] 1777 Old Style
BFP 2018.1.03-09: Letter from Thomas Evernden to John and Hannah Bowne and others; before 1678
BFP 2018.1.03-10: Testimony of John Bowne for Hannah Bowne following her burial; 2nd of 12th month [February] 1677/8 Old Style
II. Hannah Bickerstaff Bowne (c.1645-1690)
John Bowne, age 52, married Hannah Bickerstaff of Derbyshire, England, age 34, on 2 February 1679/80 (Old Style) / 12 February 1680 (New Style).
She died, aged 45 years, on 7 June 1690 (Old Style) / 17 June 1690 (New Style), after eleven years of marriage.
They had six children together.
CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN & HANNAH (BICKERSTAFF) BOWNE
JOHN & HANNAH (BICKERSTAFF) BOWNE, CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED
John Bowne married for the second time in 1679/80, following over two years of widowhood. His second wife, Hannah Bickerstaff (c.1645 to 1690), was born in Bowne’s native Derbyshire. We do not know exactly when she emigrated to the Colonies, or if the couple met in America or back in England. They had six children together over eleven years of marriage, four of whom died in infancy. Their surviving son, John Bowne, Jr. eventually left Flushing for Westchester County, and his own son and namesake resettled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This branch of the family thus largely passes out of the Flushing records after the 1730s.
We know slightly more about Hannah’s sister, Sarah Bickerstaff. She was married to John Blunston, who emigrated with William Penn in 1682 and founded the town of Derby, PA. Blunston was an influential figure in the early days of the Province, holding a number of public offices, and signing one of the first denunciations of slavery in 1715. Like John Bowne, the Blunstons hosted the local Quaker meetings in their home, and John Blunston later provided the land for the Derby Quaker Meeting House and Friends Burial Ground. The two Quaker couples appear to have been close, as witnessed by the two surviving letters from the Blunstons in the Bowne House Archives.
BFP 2018.1.03-11: Letter from John & Sarah Blunston in Darby, PA. to John & Hannah (Bickerstaff) Bowne, 12th of 11th month [January] 1684, Old Style
BFP 2018.1.03-12: Letter from John & Sarah Blunston in Darby, PA.to John & Hannah (Bickerstaff) Bowne, 10th of 10th month [December] 1686, Old Style