The late Thomas Aveling. 
355 
around Cirencester, and it is satisfactory to know that Siddington 
House will still be retained by them, it having become the 
property of Mr. Christopher Bowly, nephew of our deceased 
friend. In Mr. Bowly the Royal Agricultural Society has lost 
a sound adviser and active coadjutor. It is well to cherish some 
memory of his appearance and manners. He was tall and very 
thin, as are most of his family, erect and distinguished in 
appearance, very courteous, friendly and jocose in his manner, 
and hearty in his laughter. He was a staunch upholder of the 
country party, and often avowed a good-tempered dislike for 
Birmingham and Bright. In his opinion, " the farmers were 
the backbone of the country." Mr. Bowly had long been in 
failing health, but his death took place rather unexpectedly on 
March 19th last. He was born July 26, 1808, and was there- 
fore in the sevent} -fourth year of his age. He leaves a widow, 
and two sons and two daughters. 
XVII.— TAe late Thomas Aveling . By H. M. Jenkixs, F.G.S., 
Secretary of the Society, and Editor of the ' Journal.' 
The death of a Member of the Council of this Society always 
leaves a considerable gap in that body, owing to its representa- 
tive nature ; but as some men have greater ability and greater 
capacity for work than others, they naturally fill a greater space 
in the estimation of their colleagues and of the public. Mr. 
Aveling, whose almost sudden death has already been mourned- 
by all classes of agriculturists, by agricultural and mechanical 
engineers, by his workpeople and his townsmen — I scarcely 
dare mention his family — was one of those able and energetic 
men who are bound to make a considerable figure in any sphere 
of usefulness. It is my mournful duty to give a short record in 
this ' Journal ' of the services which Mr. Aveling has rendered 
to agriculture ; but as he was one of my intimate friends I 
should not consider that I had done justice to his memory if 
I did not also attempt to compress into the space allotted to me 
some illustrations of the nature of the man. I am indebted to 
his cousin, Mr. Stephen T. Aveling, for most of the facts 
relating to the earlier periods of his life. 
Thomas Aveling was born at Elm, in Cambridgeshire, on 
September 11th, 1824 ; he was the eldest of three children — all 
boys — and in fact he was the eldest son of the eldest son in an old 
Cambridgeshire family for at least nine generations. His father 
died while he was still young, and his mother went to live at 
Rochester, where she subsequently married again. Her second 
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