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will Lis capital messuage in Peaseliolme. William Bowes, tlie son, 
was Sheriff in 1432, sat in parliament for the city in 1434, and was 
Lord Mayor in 1443. He had a numerous family, and one of his 
sons was the father of Sir Martin Bowes, Knight, the donor of the 
sword. At an early age, Martin Bowes was transplanted from the 
quiet home of his fathers to the great and busy metropolis of the 
kingdom, where, in the reign of King Henry the Eighth, he was 
established as a goldsmith and attained a high degree of honour 
and prosperity. He was a member of the goldsmith’s company, and 
an Alderman of the Corporation of London, and in the year 1545 
was elected to the office of Lord Mayor. Under King Henry VIII. 
and King Edward YI., he held the important appointment of sub¬ 
treasurer of the royal mint, which he resigned in the year 1551. 
He was jeweller to Queen Elizabeth, and in right of certain duties 
performed by him at the coronation of his royal mistress, he had 
for his fee a splendid cup of gold and crystal, out of which the 
Queen drank during that ceremonial. In the midst of his pros¬ 
perity, Sir Martin Bowes was never forgetful of the city of his birth, 
nor did he ever neglect any opportunity of promoting its welfare. 
Upon several occasions of difficulty the Corporation sought his 
advice and assistance, which he always afforded them with the 
utmost kindness and alacrity. After the accession of King Edward 
the Sixth, when the act of parliament for the union of churches and 
parishes in York was about to be put into execution. Sir Martin 
Bowes manifested great anxiety lest the church of his native parish 
of St. Cuthbert, where the remains of many of his ancestors and 
near relatives were deposited, should be removed or desecrated. 
On the 8th of March, 1548-9, he addressed a letter to the Lord 
Mayor of York and his brethren, earnestly entreating that the 
parish church of St. Cuthbert might be one of those which should be 
allowed to stand, and representing to them that although it was 
then something decayed, yet it was a new church and strong ; able 
with a little help to stand longer than any church near thereabouts. 
We have it upon record that to the gentle request contained in this 
letter the Corporation did fully consent and agree ; and we may 
doubtless ascribe it to the pious reverence for the memory of his 
ancestors thus displayed by Sir Martin Bowes that the picturesque 
little church of St. Cuthbert, in Peaseholme, is now in existence. 
In the following year Sir Martin Bowes testified his gratitude to the 
Corporation for their ready compliance with his wishes, by present¬ 
ing to the city the beautiful sword of state, which has now for more 
c 
