Thomas Gibson Bowles: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
 
(21 intermediate revisions by 12 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:

⚫
{{other people|Thomas Bowles}}
{{short description|British magazine founder}}
{{short description|British magazine founder}}
⚫
{{other people|Thomas Bowles}}
{{refimprove|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{infobox officeholder
[[File:Thomas Gibson Bowles, by George Spencer Watson.jpg|thumb|Thomas Gibson Bowles ([[George Spencer Watson]], 1901)]]
| honorific_prefix =
| name =
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Thomas Gibson Bowles, by George Spencer Watson.jpg
| caption = ''Portrait of Bowles by [[George Spencer Watson]], 1901''
| office = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[King's Lynn (UK Parliament constituency)|King's Lynn]]
| term_start = 1910
| term_end = 1910
| predecessor = [[Carlyon Bellairs]]
| successor = [[Holcombe Ingleby]]
| term_start1 = 1892
| term_end1 = 1906
| predecessor1 = [[Weston Jarvis]]
| successor1 = [[Carlyon Bellairs]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1841|01|15|df=yes}}
| birth_place = London, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1922|01|12|1842|01|15|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Algeciras]], [[Spain]]
| education = [[King's College London]]
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| parents = [[Thomas Milner Gibson]]<br>Susannah Bowles
| spouse = {{marriage|Jessica Gordon<br>|1875|1887|reason=her death}}
| children = 4, including [[George Bowles (Conservative politician)|George]]
| relations =
}}
[[File:Thomas Gibson Bowles, Vanity Fair, 1889-07-13.jpg|thumb|"Tommy". Caricature by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] published in ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine 1868-1914)|Vanity Fair]]'' in 1889.]]
[[File:Thomas Gibson Bowles, Vanity Fair, 1889-07-13.jpg|thumb|"Tommy". Caricature by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] published in ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine 1868-1914)|Vanity Fair]]'' in 1889.]]


'''Thomas Gibson Bowles''' (15 January 1842 – 12 January 1922), known generally as '''Tommy Bowles''', was the founder of the magazines ''[[The Lady (magazine)|The Lady]]'' and the English ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine 1868-1914)|Vanity Fair]]'', a sailor, [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] and the maternal grandfather of the [[Mitford sisters]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bowles|first=Thomas Gibson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCIKAAAAIAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=Thomas+Gibson+Bowles&hl=en|title=The Defence of Paris: Narrated as it was Seen|date=1871|publisher=S. Low, son, and Marston|language=en}}</ref>
'''Thomas Gibson Bowles''' (15 January 1841 – 12 January 1922) was a British politician and publisher. He founded the magazines ''[[The Lady (magazine)|The Lady]]'' and ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', and became a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] in 1892. He was also the maternal grandfather of the [[Mitford sisters]].<ref name="Bowles">{{Cite book|last=Bowles|first=Thomas Gibson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCIKAAAAIAAJ&q=Thomas+Gibson+Bowles|title=The Defence of Paris: Narrated as it was Seen|date=1871|publisher=S. Low, son, and Marston|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Naylor|first=Lonard Edwin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJ0gAAAAMAAJ&q=Thomas+Gibson+Bowles|title=The Irrepressible Victorian: The Story of Thomas Gibson Bowles, Journalist, Parliamentarian and Founder Editor of the Original Vanity Fair|date=1965|publisher=Macdonald|language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
⚫
Thomas Gibson Bowles was born in 1841 to Susannah Bowles, being baptised on 10 March 1841 at Christ Church, Spitalfields, London.<ref>Baptism: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JW8H-RYY</ref> He was the illegitimate son of the politician [[Thomas Milner Gibson]]. He attended school in France and then studied for a year at [[King's College London]]. His father gave him a yearly stipend of £90 and helped him find a job at [[Somerset House]].<ref name="Naylor1965"/>


==Parents==
==Career==
He began his journalism and publishing career by writing a column for the ''[[Morning Post]]'' in 1866. His coverage of the [[Siege of Paris (1870–1871)|Siege of Paris]] sent by balloon and pigeon post ensured his fame.<ref name="Horne2007">{{cite book |last1=Horne |first1=Alistair |title=The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-71 |date=5 July 2007 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-0-14-193917-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FpmwVMw3ut4C&q=The+Fall+of+Paris:+The+Siege+and+the+Commune,+1870 |access-date=3 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
⚫
He was the illegitimate offspring of [[Thomas Milner Gibson]] and a servant named Susannah Bowles. He attended school in France and then studied for a year at [[King's College London]]. His father gave him a yearly stipend of £90 and helped him find a job at [[Somerset House]].


⚫
He borrowed £200 to found ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine 1868-1914)|Vanity Fair]]'' in 1868. Shattered by the death of his wife Jessica (née Gordon) in childbirth, he sold his stake in ''Vanity Fair'' in 1887 for £20,000. He founded ''The Lady'' magazine in 1885, supposedly spurred by advice Jessica had once given to him. He became a competent sailor and wrote for decades in support of the [[Royal Navy]]. Bowles (nicknamed ''[[Jehu (prophet)|Jehu]] Junior'' after a biblical prophet who effected the downfall of his enemies) compiled the biographical notes that went with the caricatures. He was editor for twenty years and shaped magazine policy so that no-one was exempt from his enquiring eye. This approach made for an entertaining and popular magazine.<ref name="Naylor1965">{{cite book |last1=Naylor |first1=Leonard Edwin |title=The Irrepressible Victorian: The Story of Thomas Gibson Bowles, Journalist |date=1965 |publisher=Macdonald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lumngEACAAJ |access-date=3 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
==Journalism==
He began his journalism and publishing career by writing a column for the ''[[Morning Post]]'' in 1866. His coverage of the [[Siege of Paris (1870–1871)|Siege of Paris]] sent by balloon and pigeon post ensured his fame.


⚫
The targets of Jehu Junior's satire usually considered themselves honoured to have been chosen, and although the scrutiny was acute, it was humorous rather than malicious. Bowles managed to achieve this extraordinarily difficult balancing act throughout his association with the magazine.<ref name="Bowles1889">{{cite book |last1=Bowles |first1=Thomas Gibson |title=The Log of the 'Nereid.' |date=1889 |publisher=Simpkin, Marshall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w6kWugAACAAJ |access-date=3 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
⚫
He borrowed £200 to found ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine 1868-1914)|Vanity Fair]]'' in 1868. Shattered by the death of his wife Jessica (née Evans-Gordon) in childbirth, he sold his stake in ''Vanity Fair'' to [[Arthur H. Evans]] in 1887 for £20,000. He founded ''The Lady'' magazine in 1885, supposedly spurred by advice Jessica had once given to him. He became a competent sailor and wrote for decades in support of the [[Royal Navy]]. Bowles (nicknamed ''[[Jehu (prophet)|Jehu]] Junior'' after a biblical prophet who effected the downfall of his enemies) compiled the biographical notes that went with the caricatures. He was editor for twenty years and shaped magazine policy so that no-one was exempt from his enquiring eye. This approach made for an entertaining and popular magazine.


===Political career===
⚫
The targets of Jehu Junior's satire usually considered themselves honoured to have been chosen, and although the scrutiny was acute, it was humorous rather than malicious. Bowles managed to achieve this extraordinarily difficult balancing act throughout his association with the magazine.
⚫
At the [[1892 United Kingdom general election|1892 general election]], he was elected as [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[King's Lynn (UK Parliament constituency)|King's Lynn]] and served in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] until losing his seat at the [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906 election]]. He was re-elected at the [[January 1910 United Kingdom general election|January 1910]] as a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]], but lost his seat again at the [[December 1910 United Kingdom general election|December 1910 election]]. He stood in the [[1916 Harborough by-election]] as an independent.<ref>{{Cite book|last=NAYLOR|first=Leonard Edwin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9ovMwEACAAJ|title=The Irrepressible Victorian. The Story of Thomas Gibson Bowles, Etc. [With Plates, Including Portraits.].|date=1965|publisher=London|language=en}}</ref>


==Politics==
=== Litigation ===
In 1912, Bowles brought (and personally argued) a claim in the High Court against the Bank of England, in which he succeed in establishing that the long-standing practice of informally collecting income tax before the Act of Parliament imposing it for the year had been passed was unlawful.<ref>Reported at [1913] 1 Ch. 57.</ref> This led to the passing of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1913, which for the first time authorised taxes to be collected on the basis of [[Budget of the United Kingdom|Budget]] resolutions passed by the House of Commons (a procedure that remains in place to this day).
⚫
At the [[1892 United Kingdom general election|1892 general election]], he was elected as [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[King's Lynn (UK Parliament constituency)|King's Lynn]] and served in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] until losing his seat at the [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906 election]]. He was re-elected at the [[January 1910 United Kingdom general election|January 1910]] as a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]], but lost his seat again at the [[December 1910 United Kingdom general election|December 1910 election]]. He stood in the [[1916 Harborough by-election]] as an independent.


==Personal life==
His late wife's brother Sir [[William Evans-Gordon]] also sat as a Conservative MP in 1900-07.
In 1875, he married Jessica Evans Gordon (1852–1887), daughter of Maj.-Gen. Charles Spalding Evans Gordon (1813–1901), a descendant of the Lochinvar branch of [[Clan Gordon]], by his wife Catherine Rose, daughter of Rev. Alexander Rose and Janet Mackintosh, of [[Inverness]]. Before her death in 1887, they were the parents of:<ref name="Guinness1984">''The House of Mitford'' by [[Jonathan Guinness]] with Catherine Guinness (Hutchinson, 1984) {{ISBN|0-09-155560-4}}</ref>


⚫
* [[George Frederic Stewart Bowles]] (1877–1955), a barrister and MP who married Madeline Mary Tobin.<ref name=Venn>{{acad|id=BWLS897GF|name=Bowles, George Frederick Stewart}}</ref>
⚫
He died while on a holiday at [[Algeciras]], [[Spain]], and is buried in [[Gibraltar]].
* Geoffrey Bowles (1879–1968), a Commander of the Royal Navy.<ref name="Leyel2013">{{cite book |last1=Leyel |title=Elixers Of Life |date=28 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-18538-0 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=45YrBgAAQBAJ&dq=Geoffrey+Bowles+Commander&pg=PA110 |access-date=3 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
⚫
* Sydney Bowles (1880–1963), married the [[David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale|Hon. David Mitford]] in 1902, and was the mother of the [[Mitford sisters]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=D. J.|date=2003-08-14|title=The myth of the Mitfords|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/aug/14/britishidentity.biography|access-date=2021-08-04|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
* Dorothy Bowles (1885–1971), who married Col. Percy Bailey.<ref name="1908Lady'sRealm">{{cite journal |title=Society: Clever Daughter and Clever Father |journal=Lady's Realm: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine |date=1908 |page=459 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4o3AQAAMAAJ&dq=Dorothy+Bowles+Percy+Bailey.&pg=PA459 |access-date=3 June 2022 |publisher=Hutchinson and Company |language=en}}</ref>


⚫
He died on 12 January 1922 while on a holiday at [[Algeciras]], [[Spain]], and is buried in [[Gibraltar]].<ref name="Naylor1965"/>
==Family==
In 1875, he married Jessica (1852–87), daughter of General Charles Evans-Gordon (1813–1901), a descendant of "Gordon of Lochinvar", and his wife Catherine, née Rose. Their children were:
⚫
* [[George Frederic Stewart Bowles|George]] (1877–1955) RN, MP & barrister who married Madeline Mary Tobin (b. 1893)
* Geoffrey (1879–1968) Royal Navy Commander;
⚫
* Sydney (1880–1963) married the then [[David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale|Hon. David Mitford]] in 1902, and was the mother of the [[Mitford sisters]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=D. J.|date=2003-08-14|title=The myth of the Mitfords|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/aug/14/britishidentity.biography|access-date=2021-08-04|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
* Dorothy (1885–1971) who married Col. Percy Bailey.


===Mitford Descendants===
⚫
According to his granddaughter Julia Budworth, Bowles also fathered the last three of the four children of assistant Rita Shell (his children's governess, after the death of his wife Jessica Evans-Gordon), who changed her surname to Stewart. She later became editor of ''The Lady''. They were Humphrey (b. 1891), Oliver (b. 1895) and Peter (b. 1900). (See "Never Forget" pp.&nbsp;616–618"). Peter Stewart later assisted at [[Marlborough House]] when it was used by [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]].
Through his elder daughter Sydney, he was a grandfather of [[Nancy Mitford|Nancy]], [[Pamela Mitford|Pamela]], [[Thomas David Freeman-Mitford|Thomas]], [[Diana Mitford|Diana]], [[Unity Mitford|Unity]], [[Jessica Mitford|Jessica]], and [[Deborah Mitford]].<ref name="Guinness1984"/>


===Relationship with Rita Shell===
==Bibliography==
⚫
According to his granddaughter Julia Budworth, Bowles also fathered the last three of the four children of assistant Rita Shell (his children's governess, after the death of his wife Jessica Gordon), who changed her surname to Stewart. She later became editor of ''The Lady''. They were Humphrey (b. 1891), Oliver (b. 1895) and Peter (b. 1900). Peter Stewart later assisted at [[Marlborough House]] when it was used by [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]].<ref name="Budworth2001">{{cite book |last1=Budworth |first1=Julia M. |title=Never Forget: George F S Bowles- A Biography. |date=2001 |isbn=978-0-953-99630-8 |pages=616–618}}</ref>
*''The Log of the Nereid'' by Thomas Bowles
*''The Irrepressible Victorian'' by Leonard Naylor (Macdonald, London 1965)
*''The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune, 1870-1.'' by [[Alistair Horne]] London: Macmillan, 1965.
*''The House of Mitford'' by [[Jonathan Guinness]] with Catherine Guinness (Hutchinson, 1984) {{ISBN|0-09-155560-4}}
*''Never Forget'' by Julia Budworth (Privately published, 2001) {{ISBN|978-0-953-99630-8}}


==References==
==References==
Line 69: Line 91:


{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson Bowles, Thomas}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson Bowles, Thomas}}
[[Category:1842 births]]
[[Category:1840s births]]
[[Category:1922 deaths]]
[[Category:1922 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London]]

Latest revision as of 21:45, 1 April 2024

For other people named Thomas Bowles, see Thomas Bowles (disambiguation).

Thomas Gibson Bowles
Portrait of Bowles by George Spencer Watson, 1901
Member of Parliament for King's Lynn
In office
1910–1910
Preceded byCarlyon Bellairs
Succeeded byHolcombe Ingleby
In office
1892–1906
Preceded byWeston Jarvis
Succeeded byCarlyon Bellairs
Personal details
Born(1841-01-15)15 January 1841
London, England
Died12 January 1922(1922-01-12) (aged 79)
Algeciras, Spain
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Jessica Gordon
​
​
(m. 1875; died 1887)​
Children4, including George
Parent(s)Thomas Milner Gibson
Susannah Bowles
EducationKing's College London
"Tommy". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1889.

Thomas Gibson Bowles (15 January 1841 – 12 January 1922) was a British politician and publisher. He founded the magazines The Lady and Vanity Fair, and became a Member of Parliament in 1892. He was also the maternal grandfather of the Mitford sisters.[1][2]

Early life[edit]

Thomas Gibson Bowles was born in 1841 to Susannah Bowles, being baptised on 10 March 1841 at Christ Church, Spitalfields, London.[3] He was the illegitimate son of the politician Thomas Milner Gibson. He attended school in France and then studied for a year at King's College London. His father gave him a yearly stipend of £90 and helped him find a job at Somerset House.[4]

Career[edit]

He began his journalism and publishing career by writing a column for the Morning Post in 1866. His coverage of the Siege of Paris sent by balloon and pigeon post ensured his fame.[5]

He borrowed £200 to found Vanity Fair in 1868. Shattered by the death of his wife Jessica (née Gordon) in childbirth, he sold his stake in Vanity Fair in 1887 for £20,000. He founded The Lady magazine in 1885, supposedly spurred by advice Jessica had once given to him. He became a competent sailor and wrote for decades in support of the Royal Navy. Bowles (nicknamed Jehu Junior after a biblical prophet who effected the downfall of his enemies) compiled the biographical notes that went with the caricatures. He was editor for twenty years and shaped magazine policy so that no-one was exempt from his enquiring eye. This approach made for an entertaining and popular magazine.[4]

The targets of Jehu Junior's satire usually considered themselves honoured to have been chosen, and although the scrutiny was acute, it was humorous rather than malicious. Bowles managed to achieve this extraordinarily difficult balancing act throughout his association with the magazine.[6]

Political career[edit]

At the 1892 general election, he was elected as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for King's Lynn and served in the House of Commons until losing his seat at the 1906 election. He was re-elected at the January 1910 as a Liberal, but lost his seat again at the December 1910 election. He stood in the 1916 Harborough by-election as an independent.[7]

Litigation[edit]

In 1912, Bowles brought (and personally argued) a claim in the High Court against the Bank of England, in which he succeed in establishing that the long-standing practice of informally collecting income tax before the Act of Parliament imposing it for the year had been passed was unlawful.[8] This led to the passing of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1913, which for the first time authorised taxes to be collected on the basis of Budget resolutions passed by the House of Commons (a procedure that remains in place to this day).

Personal life[edit]

In 1875, he married Jessica Evans Gordon (1852–1887), daughter of Maj.-Gen. Charles Spalding Evans Gordon (1813–1901), a descendant of the Lochinvar branch of Clan Gordon, by his wife Catherine Rose, daughter of Rev. Alexander Rose and Janet Mackintosh, of Inverness. Before her death in 1887, they were the parents of:[9]

He died on 12 January 1922 while on a holiday at Algeciras, Spain, and is buried in Gibraltar.[4]

Mitford Descendants[edit]

Through his elder daughter Sydney, he was a grandfather of Nancy, Pamela, Thomas, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah Mitford.[9]

Relationship with Rita Shell[edit]

According to his granddaughter Julia Budworth, Bowles also fathered the last three of the four children of assistant Rita Shell (his children's governess, after the death of his wife Jessica Gordon), who changed her surname to Stewart. She later became editor of The Lady. They were Humphrey (b. 1891), Oliver (b. 1895) and Peter (b. 1900). Peter Stewart later assisted at Marlborough House when it was used by Queen Mary.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bowles, Thomas Gibson (1871). The Defence of Paris: Narrated as it was Seen. S. Low, son, and Marston.
  2. ^ Naylor, Lonard Edwin (1965). The Irrepressible Victorian: The Story of Thomas Gibson Bowles, Journalist, Parliamentarian and Founder Editor of the Original Vanity Fair. Macdonald.
  3. ^ Baptism: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JW8H-RYY
  4. ^ a b c Naylor, Leonard Edwin (1965). The Irrepressible Victorian: The Story of Thomas Gibson Bowles, Journalist. Macdonald. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  5. ^ Horne, Alistair (5 July 2007). The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-71. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-0-14-193917-9. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  6. ^ Bowles, Thomas Gibson (1889). The Log of the 'Nereid.'. Simpkin, Marshall. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  7. ^ NAYLOR, Leonard Edwin (1965). The Irrepressible Victorian. The Story of Thomas Gibson Bowles, Etc. [With Plates, Including Portraits.]. London.
  8. ^ Reported at [1913] 1 Ch. 57.
  9. ^ a b The House of Mitford by Jonathan Guinness with Catherine Guinness (Hutchinson, 1984) ISBN 0-09-155560-4
  10. ^ "Bowles, George Frederick Stewart (BWLS897GF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  11. ^ Leyel (28 October 2013). Elixers Of Life. Routledge. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-136-18538-0. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  12. ^ Taylor, D. J. (14 August 2003). "The myth of the Mitfords". the Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Society: Clever Daughter and Clever Father". Lady's Realm: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine. Hutchinson and Company: 459. 1908. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  14. ^ Budworth, Julia M. (2001). Never Forget: George F S Bowles- A Biography. pp. 616–618. ISBN 978-0-953-99630-8.

External links[edit]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for King's Lynn
1892 – 1906 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for King's Lynn
January 1910 – December 1910 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Gibson_Bowles&oldid=1216768941"