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The picture left is of the church at Nettlested. The large tomb to the right of the church doorway is that of John Fowle and his wife Margaret Baldock. This is the earliest Fowle from which all those mentioned on these pages are descended. John is the great grandfather of Louisa Caroline Fowle. To read the tomb inscriptions click here. The Fowles occupied a series of farms in the Maidstone area such as Fant House in Fant, Half Yoke Farm, The Parsonage and Yew Tree Farm at Boxley, and Cobtree Manor Farm. (Half Yoke was owned by Louisa Caroline's eldest brother Thomas who may not have had heirs as the farm and other property were sold after his death. To view the auction announcement in the Times on August 21 1854, click HERE). Also in The Times of November 25, 1841 is a case brought by the widow of George Fowle. (George is Louisa's brother). Louisa Caroline was born at Cobtree Manor, Aylseford, Kent, the home of her father Edward Fowle (1751 - 1802) and mother Ann Pattenden (1750 - 1835). The Fowle family resided at Cobtree Manor, from 1780 - 1831 and it was then sold to Charles Milner of the nearby Preston Hall Estate which it then formed a part. Cobtree Manor was later occupied by Mr. William Spong who rented it from Charles Milner. It was during the time of the Spong's residence that Charles Dickens came to know the 'Manor' and its occupants. It is said that he based his description of Dingley Dell, the home of the Wardle family in The Pickwick Papers, on Cobtree. The Wardle family in turn may have been based on the Spong family, not the Fowles who had long since left the manor. However it has sometimes been difficult to dissuade members of the Man family that the Fowles were not known to Dickens. In 1828 Louisa Caroline Fowle was given six hundred pounds by her mother Ann (Pattenden) Fowle with which money she bought Halstead Hall. A genealogy of the Fowle family can be viewed HERE. Among some family papers a poem to Louisa Caroline has been preserved. Some Fowle wills have been digitized in PDF as follow:
There are other Fowle wills at the PRO which will de downloaded over time. A search of the Boxley parish registry has revealed the following note on the circumstances surrounding the baptism of Louisa Caroline Fowle which can be read here.
Fowle – From Monumental Inscriptions Boxley. These are provided by Bernard Thompson and Andrew Man who found these inscriptions not on the actual graves, which are very weather worn, but rather in a manuscript produced at the turn of the 20th century in which was copied down the following.
Edward Fowle 1751 married Ann Pattenden 1750 and his brother William Fowle
1755 had a long term relationship with Mary Pattenden 1762 but never married
her. Mary's four children were all christened as Pattenden thus Mary 1806 and
William 1802 were known by the name Pattenden. According to the book ‘Boxley,
the story of an English Parish' by David Hook and Robin Ambrose published 1999,
although William never married Mary, he acknowledged her children as his. On page 180 it
says that her bastard son William later took the surname of Fowle after his
father died in 1815. We have the following on William Pattenden who became Fowle.
He was born in 1802, his father William Fowle died in 1815 when according to the
book on Boxley the son William took the name Fowle. In 1817 christened as
William Pattenden born 1802 illegitimate son of Mary. 1833 – 1839 his children
christened as Pattenden alias Fowle, farmer of Boxley 1839 buried under the mill
with his father, later buried in churchyard (Boxley book), presumably as Fowle,
no death as Pattenden has been found. The following inscription can be found at Rainham church:
A search of the Church of Latter Day Saints International Genealogical database at http://www.familysearch.org web site had produced 6 Fowle boys christened between 1748 and 1764 and they are: John Fowle (1748), Thomas Fowle (1750), Edward Fowle (1751), William Fowle (1755), Robert Fowle (1761) and George Fowle (1764). The film batch number is 8336130. Edward is the husband of Ann Pattenden and the father of Louisa Caroline Man. John Fowle is the father of Henriette Marie Fowle who married her second cousin Harry Edward Julius Man. Henriette's brother, Edward, was involved in a lengthy divorce proceeding about which a number of items have been found such as Edward's appeal reported in the Calcutta Law Reports. An office copy of Edward's will has also been located and can be read here.
In the divorce case Edward Fowle was represented by his second cousin Edward Garnet Man, who was also his sister's brother in law. The following detailed account of the divorce has been obtained and will be digitized soon:
Some more Fowle wills:
Source: Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Probate 10 Oct 1840
William Fowle of Boxley, farmer, will dated 19 Sep 1833 To be buried in vault as my late father was at the mill in the field called the poor field, part of my estate at Boxley Wife Isabella Brother in law William Sharp Avery of Boxley, yeoman, trustee Edward Simmonds of Woodchurch, salesman and farmer, trustee Property in Boxley, Aylesford, Chatham, Gillingham and Strood Witnesses: H A Wildes - B Harrison - Jos'h Harrison, clerks to Mr Wildes, solicitor, Maidstone Codicil dated 25 Mar 1836 Witnesses: Thomas Fumer - William Dickin - H A Wildes.
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The
Fowles are a Kentish family and became connected to the Man family through the
marriage in 1819 of Louisa Caroline Fowle (1795 - 1878) to
There is also a Margaret Pattenden who married in St George Hanover Square,
London in 1790 to George Fowle. Could this be another brother? Maybe the three
Pattenden girls could all be sisters but no suitable christening records for
Ann, Mary or Margaret have been located. Left is Boxley church.
