Born in
Radley Hall in
Berkshire (now
Oxfordshire), he was the son of
Sir George Bowyer, 6th Baronet, and Anne Hammond Douglas. Bowyer was a cadet at the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and was then
called to the Bar by the
Middle Temple in 1836. He received an honorary
Master of Arts by the
University of Oxford in 1839 and an honorary
Doctor of Civil Laws in 1844. One year later, he changed to
Lincoln's Inn. In 1860, he succeeded to both baronetcies held by his father. Having contested
Reading in the
1849 Reading by-election, Bowyer became a
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Dundalk from 1852 to 1868 and for
County Wexford from 1874 to 1880. The
Roman Catholic Church of St John of Jerusalem in
Great Ormond Street in London and
Our Lady and St Edmund's Church, Abingdon, were built at his own cost. He was made a Knight of Justice of the
Order of Malta, a Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of St. Gregory the Great and a Grand Collar of the
Constantian Order of St George of Naples. Bowyer served as chamberlain to
Pius IX, who appointed him a Knight of the Great Ribbon of the
Order of Pius IX. He was further a
deputy lieutenant of
Berkshire. He was a member of the
Manchester Unity Order of Oddfellows, at one time he led a procession under a banner named Loyal Bowyer Union Lodge of Odd Fellows. Bowyer died in
King's Bench Walk in London, aged 71 and unmarried. He was found dead in his bed and was buried in
Radley in
Berkshire on 7 June 1883. He was succeeded in both baronetcies by his younger brother William. ==Works==