TOPIC:

Walter Maurice Bowyer

Chief Officer, Elder Dempster Line – Anglo Boer War
Trinity House Pilot – WWI

- Transport Medal with clasp S. AFRICA 1899 – 1902 to W.M. BOWYER
- British War Medal to WALTER M. BOWYER
- Mercantile Marine Medal to WALTER M. BOWYER

Maurice Bowyer (as he was known) wasn’t your average pilot – for starters he was a Pilot in the nautical sense and a Trinity House Pilot to boot. Born in Woolston, Hampshire on 9 October 1876 he was the son of Walter Bowyer, Wharfinger and later Secretary of the Southampton Harbour Board and his wife Emilie Clarke, born Rose. The Bowyer family is synonymous with the Trinity House Pilots – no fewer than four brothers were to assume the mantle in the latter half of the 19th century and well into the 20th century.


Maurice is not in this photo but his father, Walter, is middle back row and his father-in-law, George William Bowyer, who piloted the Titanic out of harbour, is the chap, hand on hip, in the second row.

Our first glimpse of a young Walter came via the 1881 England census where, aged 4, he was at home in Hardwick Villa, with his parents and siblings, Ethel Pattie Bowyer (6) and Alan Stafford Bowyer (2). The domestic needs of the family were taken care of by 17 year old Ann Judd.

According to an article in the Hampshire Independent of 25 December 1886 a ten year old Maurice attended Woolston College in Southampton where, at the annual speech day of the college, the room was crowded with an appreciative audience. “The proceedings commenced with an entertainment carried out by present and past pupils, assisted by Mr. Methven, the principal, and other masters.” In a theatrical piece entitled “Bluebeard,” he played the role of Captain Shacabac. To what critical acclaim we are left guessing.

By the time the 1891 England census was enumerated, a 14 year old Maurice was at home with his family at Hermann Villas in Woolston. Although listed as a Scholar, he was no longer attending an ordinary school – the Register of Apprentices’ Indentures revealed that he had, at the age of 14, been indentured to his uncle William Charles Bowyer (a Trinity House Pilot) on 11 October 1890. Bound for a term of 6 years, his indenture was scheduled to expire in 1896. He started his career in the old Southampton pilot cutter in 1891 and, after remaining some years in the service, he made two voyages in sail to Australia and New Zealand.

The Board of Trade awarded him a Certificate of Competency as a Second Mate of a Foreign – Going ship on 15 July 1896. This was followed by a Certificate of Competency as a First Mate on 2 December 1897 and the same Certificate, but as a Master on 25 September 1899. Bowyer was now fully qualified to take the reins of a sea-going vessel to foreign climes.



Whilst he had been improving his qualifications, war clouds, which had been developing between Great Britain and two recalcitrant and obdurate Dutch-speaking Boer Republics at the bottom-most tip of the African continent, finally burst into a declaration of war on 11 October 1899 – six weeks after his final qualification. These Republics were, of course, the Transvaal and her ally, the Orange Free State.

The British military presence in the two Crown Colonies of Natal and the Cape Colony, both of which bordered the Boer Republics, was woefully inadequate to stem the tide of the Boer invasion which commenced immediately. The clarion call went out to the Government at Home for additional troops to be sent, post-haste, to stem the tide and the urgent need for ships to transport not only troops but horses, stores and ordnance became apparent.

Without delay, the British Government entered into negotiations with the leading shipping lines of the day with the objective of chartering their fleets. Troops were to be carried in the fastest vessels available but it was found that large cargo boats were preferable to liners because they could be adapted more easily for military use. The size of vessel was also a factor. Experience showed that vessels of shorter length and lighter draught were more easily managed in South African waters and the accommodation on board roughly fitted a military unit.

The requirements for the transport of horses either meant that cattle ships were brought into service or other vessels were converted in a process that was both slow and costly.

Enter Bowyer, stage left, ready, able and willing to make his contribution to the war effort. Going through the medal roll for the award of the Transport Medal, what strikes one immediately is that the vast majority of recipients served on one ship during the war. Not Bowyer, he had the singular distinction of being credited with service aboard three ships – all of them belonging to his employers, the Elder Dempster Line.


The Arawa in a New Zealand harbour pre-war

These were, in no particular order, the Arawa (No. 48), the Montfort (No. 53) and the Monterey (no allotted number). He served as the 2nd officer in the first two but was the Chief Officer on the Monterey. The Daily Telegraph of 13 October 1899 reported that, “The Elder Dempster steamers engaged were the “Montfort”, the “Monarch”, and “Arawa” – one of their Bristol Canada mail steamers.”

The first ship on which he served, as 2ndofficer, was the aforementioned S.S. “Arawa” – this ship, according to the Bradford Daily Telegraph of 30 October 1899, had arrived in Portsmouth on that day and “will be immediately fitted as a hospital ship. When ready she will convey a number of troops and hospital nurses from England to the Cape.” The “Arawa” was dogged by controversy from almost the very beginning.

The first bad press came on 10 November 1899 – the Sheffield Daily Telegraph reporting, under the banner “A Troopship Scandal” that,
“The troopship “Arawa” with the 2nd Shropshire Light Infantry aboard, sailed from Southampton on Wednesday morning. It turns out that the “defective machinery” which was said to have delayed her sailing was bad meat. The meat was taken aboard at Portsmouth on Saturday. On Tuesday evening as the ship was about to sail, it was discovered that the meat was in a very bad condition. An expert who examined it said it was definitely unfit for human consumption. The mutton was green and in very bad condition. A tug was ordered which carried the meat out to sea and dumped it in deep water.”

It would appear that the plans to convert her into a hospital ship had been shelved.

The Shipping Gazette & Lloyd’s List of 30 January 1900 carried the next bit of disturbing news in respect of the ill-fated “Arawa”. Under the heading: “Death of the Master of the Arawa” it was announced that – “the death took place on Saturday of Captain John Anthony Pollexfen, R.N.R., at his residence in Liverpool. The deceased had been for a number of years in the employ of Elder Dempster & Co. and was in command of their steamer “Arawa.” He returned from South Africa about a fortnight ago after taking out the 2ndShropshire Regiment from Southampton. At that time, he was suffering from a severe cold to which he did not pay much attention. The result was an attack of influenza, followed by pneumonia, to which he succumbed.”

Coincidentally, this signalled the end of the “Arawa’s” transport obligations – the Liverpool Mercury of 16 February 1900 contained a snippet which stated that, “The steamship “Arawa” 3182 tons nett register, acquired for their Canadian Mail service by Messrs. Elder Dempster & Co. is to be renamed “Lake Megantic”, in harmony with the other “Lake” boats of the Beaver Line carrying on the service.[/size]


The Montfort - Little is known of Bowyer's service aboard her.

Bowyer was also aboard the transports Monterey and Montfort at various stages of the war – transporting mules from New Orleans, Lord Strathcona’s Horse from Canada and various British Imperial Yeomanry outfits, Royal Engineers Company’s, and others – all to South Africa to aid the war effort.

When he joined the Monterey as Chief Officer is uncertain. On January 31, 1900 it was reported that the Monterey was chartered along with several other vessels to transport Lord Strathcona's Canadian contingent to South Africa to reinforce the British forces. The steamer arrived at Halifax at 03:30 on February 27, 1900, loaded the Strathcona's Horse regiment consisting of 552 officers and men, 599 horses and ammunition on March 16. She additionally took onboard 203 replacement men for the first Canadian regiment and left Halifax the next morning at 11:00 local time. The voyage was fine and uneventful with the exception of horses contracting pneumonia with 163 of them dying en route. The ship reached Cape Town on April 11, 1900, disembarked the troops, unloaded her cargo, and sailed back to North America. Due to the Monterey having a dedicated cattle deck, she was chartered for the duration of the war to transport mules and horses to South Africa.

While in the government service she still managed to make occasional commercial trips. For example, on November 10, 1900 she left New Orleans for Havre and London via Norfolk carrying a large cargo of lumber, 40,000 bushels of wheat and 10,050 bales of cotton. On her return trip she transported 4,500 tons of coal from Barry for New Orleans.



During her return trip from South Africa in June 1901, fire was discovered in the afterhold a few days after leaving St. Vincent. All the conventional ways of extinguishing fire proved to be unsuccessful, and it took unusual means to bring it under control. The vessel arrived at New Orleans badly damaged on June 25. She entered the drydock for repairs at Newport News after arriving there on September 23 from South Africa. While at the mooring, her cargo of baled hay in the forward No. 1 hold was set on fire on September 26, and it took several hours for both the shipyard and city fire departments to extinguish it. Several deck plates and beams buckled due to fire and had to be replaced.

For his efforts Bowyer was awarded the Transport Medal. At this point it would be worthwhile explaining what the Transport medal was awarded for - The medal was instituted for officers of the Merchant Navy who had been on ships engaged in taking troops to the wars in South Africa and China over the period 1899 to 1902. It was seen as a campaign medal for the Merchant Marine (as the Merchant Navy was then called) with clasps issued for the Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion. 1272 of the former were issued and 323 of the latter. The recipient’s name is to be found impressed in block letters on the rim, without rank or ship unless the recipient was the Captain.

In the latter stages of the war, Bowyer continued on in the service of Elder Dempster & Co. for a short while but, having qualified as a Pilot in 1901 whilst a Chief Officer, he took his leave of them and fell in with the “family business” – by becoming a Trinity House Pilot.

This was also an opportunity for him to become involved in civic affairs – he joined the Southampton Borough Council as a representative of St. Nicholas Ward when that area came within the borough boundaries in 1906. Some of his most valuable service in the town, however, was rendered while a member of the Southampton Harbour Board. Here his expert knowledge was of the utmost usefulness.

Since 1907 he carried out work as a Pilot for the White Star and the American Line. Among other vessels, he handled the Olympic and the Homeric. That he exercised his duties efficiently was borne out by an article in The Shipping Gazette of 7 October 1909 which read as follows:

“At the Southampton Borough police Court on Tuesday, George Sutherland, master of the coasting vessel Swansea Trader, was summoned on the information of Walter Maurice Bowyer, a Trinity House Pilot, for employing an unqualified pilot in navigating Southampton Water. The defence was that the master took a man on board for roping purposes, and not for navigating the ship. The bench, by a majority, decided to impose a penalty of 20s and costs.”

1909 was an auspicious year for him in another sense as well – in February he wed Maude Eveline Bowyer, a cousin and the daughter of the famous Titanic Pilot, George William Bowyer. The 1910 Woolston Electors Roll had him living in Garnock Road in that Ward. A year later, at the time of the 1911 England census, he and his wife, along with their 19 year old General Servant, were living at “Umtali”, High Road, Swaythling, Hants. He was 34 years old and a Trinity House Pilot whilst his wife was 26 and a housewife.

Three years later, the Great War erupted on 4 August 1914 – Bowyer saw out the war as a Pilot in Southampton and was awarded the British War Medal and Mercantile Marine Medal for his efforts.

At the time of the 1921 England census the Bowyer family were still at the same address – there had been no children born of the marriage. He was still employed as a Trinity House Pilot for the Isle of Wight district. On 13 October 1924 he undertook his last Piloting assignment – together with his cousin George, another of the Trinity House Pilots, they embarked at Cherbourg aboard the “Minnetonka” bound for London. Less than a month later, on 10 November 1924, at the age of 48, Maurice Bowyer breathed his last.

His obituary in both the Journal of Commerce and The Hampshire Advertiser & Independent editions of 15 November 1924 gave us the measure of the man, describing him as “a well-known and popular member of the Southampton pilotage service.”

It was also said that: “The death of Councillor Walter Maurice Bowyer, which occurred at his residence “Umtali,” Swaythling Lawn, Southampton, on Sunday will cause deep sorrow in many circles. Mr. Bowyer was a member of a very old Southampton family, who have not only been very intimately associated with shipping in the port for a great many years, but whose name has also been prominent in local government.

Mr Bowyer, who was only 48 years of age, was the son of the late Mr Walter Bowyer, formerly Clerk to the Southampton Harbour Board, and grandson of the late Mr James Bowyer, of Glen Villa, Woolston. He was a Trinity House Pilot. His loss will be keenly felt by his colleagues in the pilot service.”

He left his wife an amount of £1340.

Sources:
- Transport Medal roll in The National Archives
- Newspaper reports and obituaries - Find My Past newspaper archive
- Census data, probate and other family details - Ancestry.co.uk
- Photos of Bowyer family pilots 1897 - internet article
- Photos of ships - internet search.