Thomas MacDowell was Bishop of Galloway

Bishop of Galloway

The Bishop of Galloway, also called the Bishop of Whithorn, was the eccesiastical head of the Diocese of Galloway, said to have been founded by Saint Ninian in the mid-5th century. The subsequent Anglo-Saxon bishopric was founded in the late 7th century or early 8th century, and the first known...

 (1359–1363). He had previously been rector of the parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 of "Kyrteum" (perhaps Kirkcolm?), and so was certainly a native of Galloway

Galloway

Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...

, as his Gaelic

Galwegian Gaelic

Galwegian Gaelic is an extinct dialect of Scottish Gaelic formerly spoken in southwest Scotland. It was spoken by the independent kings of Galloway in their time, and by the people of Galloway and Carrick until the early modern period. It was once spoken in Annandale and Strathnith...

 name further suggests. He was provided to the see by Pope Innocent VI

Pope Innocent VI

Pope Innocent VI , born Étienne Aubert; his father was Adhemar Aubert seigneur de Montel-De-Gelas in Limousin province. His niece was Catherine Aubert, Dame de Boutheon, also the wife of Randon II baron de Joyeuse; she is La Fayette's ancestor...

 sometime before December 1359. He was consecrated at Avignon

Avignon

Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...

 by Cardinal Peter, Bishop of Ostia. He appeared in the records for the last time in a document dating to September, 1362, along with the Bishop of Dunkeld

Bishop of Dunkeld

The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th century cleric named Cormac...

 and the Bishop of Brechin

Bishop of Brechin

The Bishop of Brechin is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Brechin or Angus, based at Brechin Cathedral, Brechin. The diocese had a long-established Gaelic monastic community which survived into the 13th century. The clerical establishment may very well have traced their earlier origins...

 as an arbitrator in a dispute between the chapter of Glasgow

Glasgow Cathedral

The church commonly known as Glasgow Cathedral is the Church of Scotland High Kirk of Glasgow otherwise known as St. Mungo's Cathedral.The other cathedrals in Glasgow are:* The Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew...

 and its bishop. His successor, Adam de Lanark

Adam de Lanark

Adam de Lanark, O.P. was a 14th century Scottish Dominican friar and prelate. Possibly from a Lanark burghess family, he was a Dominican and a priest by 1356, and by 1364 was styled Magister, indicating the completion of a long university education. He first appears in the sources, c...

, was provided to the see

Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

in November 1363, so it is probable that Thomas died sometime in the early part of 1363.