He married Fanny Ethel MUNN and was the only one of my grandparents whom I did not know, but his is the line on which I now have most information about. A combination of his propensity to bet on the horses, a taste for alcohol and the general economic slump of the 1920s, together with some interference from members of her family, meant that the marriage was short lived and he ended up living rough with very little contact with any of his family. The BOWLES family were firmly rooted in the Weald of Kent; several generations of blacksmiths through the 19th century and before that yeoman farmers.

There are several other BOWLES families in Kent, as yet no known links, but more information about these other families on Tom LaPorte's website.

Subsequent to the birth of George Roots Harris Bowles, his mother Mary Harris married John Bowles. Prior to confirming the identity of George's paternal father I had researched several generations of John's ancesters. I now know them to be family history rather than genealogy, and I retain them as 'honorary ancestors'.

** Hannah Rumbold's ancestors (from Hampshire) were:

***Mary Cripps's ancestors (from Sussex) were:

The MUNN line also come from Kent, mostly Ag Labs from the Darenth Valley area but in nineteenth century they moved to Milton-Gravesend and married into the LOVEL family and inherited their dairy business.

The HOLDAWAYs were mostly market gardeners and migrated from Southfleet, Kent into nearby Gravesend and Milton.


View four unidentified photos found amongst others of the MUNN family, which are possibly Fanny's grandparents: Richard MUNN, Elizabeth HOLDAWAY, Thomas LOVEL and Fanny Fearall SAUNDERS.

***Lydia COUCHMAN's direct ancestors were:

Although born more than half a century into civil registration Grandfer's birth was never registered. I've always known that he didn't have a birth certificate, family story was that his mother had saved up the necessary 6d, but his father spent it wetting the new baby's head. I used to think that it was just the certificate he didn't have but a search of the GRO indexes at FRC Myddelton Street failed to find an entry for him. A generation earlier his mother had escaped registration also.

Granny was born in Sligo, Ireland but the family moved to Belfast during her youth. Her first husband Frank THOMPSON died in WW1 leaving her with a young son, Frank. She subsequently married Frank Charles ESCOTT, a British soldier, in 1923 in Belfast and within a couple of years had settled in England. As a child she was the grandparent I knew best, but I now realize that I actually know very little about her family.

There were three brothers, Jackie, Georgie and Charlie, and two sisters, Lena (married Bertie BRIDLE) and Lizzie (married Jack CHAMPION). Aunty Lizzie also moved to England and has descendants, the others remained in Ireland. Aunty Lena had no children and nor did Georgie who was invalided by gas during WW1. I believe that Jacky and Charlie probably have descendants in N Ireland.