John Bowdler was an English author.

Early life

He was born at Bath, Somerset on 18 March 1746, the son of Thomas Bowdler and Elizabeth Stuart, second daughter and coheiress of Sir John Cotton, 6th Baronet. John Bowdler (known as the elder to distinguish him from his son John) was the eldest son of this marriage. His mother, who wrote 'Practical Observations on the Revelations of St. John' (Bath, 1800), written in the year 1775, was noted for piety and culture; and she gave all her children religious training. After attending several private schools, Bowdler was placed, in November 1765, in the office of Mr. Barsham, a special pleader

Special pleader

A special pleader was a historial legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case.-History:...

, and practised as a chamber conveyancer between 1770 and 1780. In January 1778 he married Harrietta, eldest daughter of John Hanbury, vice-consul of the English factory at Hamburg. In November 1779 he attended Robert Gordon, the last of the nonjuring

Nonjuring schism

The nonjuring schism was a split in the Church of England in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, over whether William of Orange and his wife Mary could legally be recognised as King and Queen of England....

 bishops, through a fatal illness.

His father's death in 1785 put Bowdler in possession of a small fortune; he then retired from his profession.

Pamphleteer

In 1795 he wrote a long letter to Lord Auckland about the high prices of the time, in which he attacked clergy and legislators for neglecting morality and religion. In 1796 he addressed letters on similar subjects to the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

 and Bishops Beilby Porteus

Beilby Porteus

Beilby Porteus , successively Bishop of Chester and of London was an Anglican reformer and leading abolitionist in England...

 and Samuel Horsley

Samuel Horsley

Samuel Horsley was a British churchman, bishop of Rochester from 1792.Entering Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1751, he became LL.B. in 1758 without graduating in arts. In the following year he succeeded his father in the living of Newington Butts in Surrey...

. He published in 1797 a pamphlet entitled Reform or Ruin, in which he sought again to expose the immorality and irreligion of the nation. The pamphlet had a wide sale, and reached an eighth edition within a year. He disapproved of Sir Richard Hill's 'Apology for Brotherly Love,' a partial justification of the prevailing dissent, and issued pamphlets in support of the opposite views expounded in Charles Daubeney's 'Guide to the Church.'

In 1815 he formed a committee to memorialise the government to erect additional churches in the populous parts of England out of the public funds. In 1816 he petitioned Lord Sidmouth to abolish lotteries.

Death and legacy

He died at Eltham on 29 June 1823. Bowdler was one of the founders of the Church Building Society.

Family

He had ten children, six of whom survived infancy. John Bowdler the younger

John Bowdler the Younger

John Bowdler the Younger , was an English author and solicitor.-Early life:Bowdler was the younger son of John Bowdler the elder. He was born in London on 2 February 1783. He was educated at Winchester, and in 1798 was placed in a London solicitor's office...

 and Thomas Bowdler were his sons. His daughter Elizabeth died on 4 December 1810.