William Bowes

Sir William Bowes (6 January 1657 – 16 January 1707) was a British landowner and M.P.

Sir William Bowes Kt. of Streatlam Castle was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.^[1] He was one of the two Members of Parliament for County Durham during the second, third and fourth Parliaments of Charles II, and then again in the second Parliament of William III and first and second Parliaments of Queen Anne. His son George Bowes, later represented the County. Sir William married Elizabeth Blakiston of Gibside in 1693. She was the daughter of Sir Francis Blakiston and Ann Bowes who was the daughter of Sir George Bowes of Bradley Hall. From this marriage came much of the wealth of the Bowes (later Bowes-Lyon) family as the Gibside estates lay over rich coal seams.^[2] The children of Sir William and Lady Bowes were William Blakiston, Thomas (d1722), George, Anne, Elizabeth, Jane and Margaret. George's daughter (Sir William's granddaughter) was Mary Eleanor Bowes (1745-1800) - in her day considered to be the "wealthiest woman in Europe".^[3]

Sir William Bowes is the 5x-great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and 7x-great-grandfather of actor Benedict Cumberbatch.^[4]

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