Author: John Bowen
Alternate names: Bowen, John Bishop of Sierra Leone
Title: Bp. of Sierra Leone
Born: 21 November 1815
Died: 2 June 1859
Bio: John Bowen LL.D. was an Anglican bishop in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Bowen, son of Thomas Bowen, captain in the 85th regiment, by his third wife, Mary, was born at Court, near Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. He was educated at Merlin's Vale near Haverfordwest, Wales. He emigrated to Dunnville, Ontario, Canada, in April 1835, where he served in the militia during the rebellion of 1837–8. On Sunday, 6 March 1842, he heard a sermon in the church at Lakeshore, Ontario, which made a great impression on his mind. He returned to England and in January 1843 entered Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated B.A. in 1847, and became LL.B. and LL.D. in 1857.

His first appointment was to the assistant-curacy of Knaresborough, Yorkshire, England, in 1848. While there he asked the Church Missionary Society to allow him to visit their numerous foreign stations. The society suggested that he should proceed to Jerusalem, and then to visit the missionary stations at Syra, Smyrna, and Cairo; afterwards to journey to Mount Lebanon, Nablous, and other places in Syria, and thence to proceed to Mosul by Constantinople and Trebizond, returning by Bagdad and Damascus to Jerusalem. All this he accomplished, going through many hardships and dangers, and returning to England in December 1851.

In 1853 he was named rector of Orton-Longueville with Botolph Bridge in Huntingdonshire. Having obtained permission from his bishop, he again left England in September 1854, and was absent in the East until July 1856. Because he had made such good use of his opportunities for the study of Arabic, he was able to preach with fluency in that difficult language. He was consecrated bishop of Sierra Leone on 21 September 1957. On 26 November 1857, he and his new bride, Catharine Butler, sailed for Sierra Leone. His wife died at Freetown after giving birth to a stillborn son in August 1858, and the bishop died the following year from a malignant fever.

Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bowen_(bishop))