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Bowers Family History

This interesting patronymic surname has a number of possible origins, all of Anglo-Saxon pre 8th century derivation. The first of these is topographical from residence in a small cottage, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century word "bur", meaning a cottage or inner room. Natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages, and consequently gave rise to many surnames. The addition of "er" to topographical terms was particularly widespread in Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Essex at the beginning of the 14th Century, and described a "dweller at the bower".