On This Day: 29 April 1927

Today in 1927, John Humphreys who was the President of the Birmingham Archaeological Society wrote to Lady Fry. Her daughter had written to Humphreys’ son enquiring about his father’s discovery of the Bowrey papers. This letter is interesting because it contains details not published in The Papers of Thomas Bowrey. Apparently, The Papers had not been published sooner because of WWI.

The Papers described the documents being discovered in a previously unknown windowless room. This sounds so romantic but, according to Humphreys, the chest was in a dark loft. We have all found something forgotten tucked in an attic. Not many have found an unknown room in our house. This is a reminder that care must be taken when interpreting published sources. Just because something was published in a book does not make it true.

Of course, there is no guarantee that the Humphreys’ version is correct. He continues to say in his letter that the papers dealt with the foundation of our Indian Empire. This is a gross exaggeration. The papers may throw some light on life in the East Indies in the late seventeenth century but, as an independent trader, Bowrey had little involvement with the East India Company at that time and the Company was not yet dominant in India.

Humphreys explained in his letter that he had spent a year copying the papers. As some manuscripts known to included are now missing, it would be interesting to know if these copies still survive.

On This Day: 5 April 1927

Today in 1927, Henry Howard wrote to his dear Cousin, possibly Lady Ruth Fry, from Stone House near Kidderminster. Lady Fry was a Quaker who collected Quaker related manuscripts. Her papers are now held at the Quaker House Library in London.

The letter concerns the Bowrey Papers which were of interest to Lady Fry because of the documents relating to Peter Briggins included in them. Peter Briggins was a Quaker who rented property to Bowrey.  Howard, who had purchased Bowrey’s Papers in 1921, wrote that There is only one letter from Briggins to Bowrey. It is about the insurance of the Kings Head Inn. He signs himself your real friend Peter Briggins – Apparently he did not claim Bowrey as a kinsman.

Lady Fry had, presumably, hoped that Bowrey may have been related to her, as her cousin Henry Howard was a descendant of Briggins.

The letter from Howard also mentions the two letters from Daniel Defoe to Bowrey that were in the Papers (he later sold these) and documents signed by Elihu Yale (which were donated to Yale University). Howard gave Lady Fry two receipts from the Papers which are now held in the Quaker House Library. All this demonstrates how widely spread Bowrey’s Papers now are.