Family and early life

Bowen was born in Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England with a small harbour, surrounded by cliffs.The parish stretches along the coast from 'The Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and 4 miles along The Torrs to Lee Bay toward the west...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 in 1751. His father was a maritime trader who sailed from the Bristol Channel

Bristol Channel

The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...

 to West Africa and the West Indies. His younger brother, Richard Bowen

Richard Bowen

Richard Bowen was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars...

, also embarked on a career at sea. James joined his father's ship in 1764 and commanded his own ship in the African and West India trade by 1776. He entered the Royal Navy as a master

Master (naval)

The master, or sailing master, was a historic term for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel...

, serving aboard the 38-gun under Captain John MacBride

John MacBride (Royal Navy officer)

John MacBride was an officer of the Royal Navy and a politician who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral of the Blue.MacBride entered the navy after serving on merchant vessels and...

. He followed MacBride to a succession of ships in the period 1781 to 1789 and saw action at the Battle of Dogger Bank

Battle of Dogger Bank (1781)

The naval Battle of the Dogger Bank took place on 5 August 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, part of the American War of Independence, in the North Sea...

 on 5 August 1781. He was afterwards inspecting agent of transports in the Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

.

French Revolutionary Wars

After the outbreak of war with France in 1793, Admiral Lord Howe

Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe

Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...

 asked Bowen to be master of his flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

, the 100-gun . He commanded her at the Glorious First of June

Glorious First of June

The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...

, 1794, when she engaged the French ship Montagne

French ship Océan (1790)

Océan was a 118-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.She was ordered as États de Bourgogne and was launched at Brest in 1790...

, the flagship of the French commander Rear-Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse

Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse

Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was a French admiral.-Early career:Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was born in Auch, in the heart of Gascony. The Villaret de Joyeuse family figured among the minor nobility from Languedoc...

, and the Jacobin. During the battle Howe ordered Bowen to turn to starboard

Port and starboard

Port and starboard are nautical terms which refer to the left and right sides, respectively, of a ship or aircraft as perceived by a person on board facing the bow . At night, the port side of a vessel is indicated with a red navigation light and the starboard side with a green one.The starboard...

. Bowen warned him, ‘My lord, you'll be foul of the French ship if you don't take care’. ‘What is that to you, sir?’ replied the admiral, sharply; ‘starboard!’ ‘Starboard!’ cried Bowen, muttering by no means inaudibly, ‘Damned if I care, if you don't. I'll take you near enough to singe your black whiskers’. Bowen then took Queen Charlotte across the stern of the Montagne, close enough for the French ensign hanging off her stern to brush the Queen Charlottes main and mizzen shrouds

Shroud (sailing)

On a sailboat, the shrouds are pieces of standing rigging which hold the mast up from side to side. There is frequently more than one shroud on each side of the boat....

.

Bowen distinguished himself during the battle and was commissioned a lieutenant on 23 June 1794. He continued to serve aboard Queen Charlotte as her first lieutenant, and was present at the Battle of Groix

Battle of Groix

The Second Battle of Groix was a naval engagement that took place on 23 June 1795 during the French Revolutionary War off the west coast of France....

 on 23 June 1795. A promotion to commander followed, and then an advancement to post captain on 2 September. He took command of the 74-gun and served in the West Indies for a time, before taking command of the 44-gun in March 1798. On 5 May she encountered Captain Sir Sidney Smith, who was in an open boat in the Channel, having escaped via Le Havre

Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...

 from the Temple

Temple (Paris)

The Temple was a medieval fortress in Paris, located in what is now the IIIe arrondissement. It was built by the Knights Templar from the 12th century, as their European headquarters. In the 13th century it replaced earlier works of the Vieille Temple in Le Marais...

 prison in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Argo sailed for the Mediterranean in October 1798.

Bowen took part in the capture of Minorca

Minorca

Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....

 by Commodore

Commodore (Royal Navy)

Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...

 John Duckworth. He served on the Navy Board

Navy Board

The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...

 from 25 February 1816 until 25 August 1825, when he retired with the rank of rear-admiral. He died on 27 April 1835.

Family

James Bowen married a sister of Captain George Nicholas Hardinge

George Nicholas Hardinge

George Nicholas Hardinge was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Possessing an ability to endear himself to senior officers through his intellect and good manners, he served under several important naval commanders, whose patronage allowed...

 and had two sons and four daughters. They followed their father into the navy. The eldest, James, died captain of the frigate, , on the East India station, in 1812; and another son, John

John Bowen (colonist)

John Bowen was a naval officer and colonial administrator. Led the first settlement of Tasmania at Risdon Cove. He was the son of James Bowen, and was born at Ilfracombe, Devon, England.-Early career:...

, also a captain, died in 1828. Both sons had been promoted captain in 1805. James' promotion apparently was a mistake. John married the niece of the Duchess of Clarence. It is known the youngest daughter, Elizabeth, died in Torquay in 1894.

Legacy

In 1860, Bowen Island

Bowen Island

Bowen Island, British Columbia, is an island municipality in Howe Sound, is part of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, and is an island included within the jurisdiction of the Islands Trust . Approximately 6 km wide by 12 km long, the island at its closest point is about 2 km...

 near Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 was renamed after him, by Captain George Henry Richards

George Henry Richards

Admiral Sir George Henry Richards was Hydrographer to the British Admiralty from 1864 to 1874.-Early life:Richards was born in Anthony, Cornwall, the son of Captain G S Richards, and joined the navy in 1832....

, in recognition of his part in the June 1794 battle. The Australian surveyor Captain Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...

 named Bowen strait, and Port Bowen after James Bowen during his circumnavigation of the continent. Flinders had met and been entertained by Bowen in Madeira

Madeira

Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...

. Another island in Jervis Bay

Jervis Bay

Jervis Bay is a large bay bounded by the state of New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, and a detached enclave of the Australian Capital Territory. HMAS Creswell is located between Jervis Bay Village and Greenpatch in the Jervis Bay Territory.-History:...

was named Bowen in honour of his brother Richard.