John bowring biography
John bowring armourer!
John bowring biography
Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bowring, John
BOWRING, Sir JOHN (1792–1872), linguist, writer, and traveller, was born at Exeter on 17 Oct. 1792. He was descended from an ancient Devonshire family, which gave its name to the estate of Bowringsleigh, in the parish of West Allington.
For many generations the Bowrings had been engaged in the woollen trade of Devon, and in 1670 an ancestor coined tokens for the payment of his workmen bearing the inscription, with a wool-comb for a device, 'John Bowring of Chulmleigh, his half-penny.' Sir John was the eldest son of Mr.
Charles Bowring, of Larkbeare. He was first placed under the care of the Rev. J. H. Bransby, of Moretonhampstead, and subsequently under that of Dr. Lant Carpenter.
Bowring entered a merchant's house at Exeter on leaving school, and during the next four years laid the foundation of his linguistic attainments.
According to the brief memoir written by his son, he learned French from a refugee priest