The Bowman brothers were pioneer pastoralists of Tasmania (then "Van Diemen's Land") and South Australia. They were the sons of John Bowman (1785 – 1 June 1857, born Askham, Westmorland): Edmund Bowman, John Bowman, William Charles Bowman and Thomas Richard Bowman.
The brothers.
Edmund Bowman.
Edmund Bowman (1818 – 14 August 1866) was born in Askham, Westmorland, and emigrated to Hobart, Tasmania with his parents and siblings. He travelled to Adelaide on the "Parsee" in 1838 to investigate South Australia's potential for investment opportunity and returned on the "Porter" in 1839. He helped his father establish farms and residences at Dry Creek, Enfield and Crystal Brook. He died after falling from a log bridge at his property near Port Wakefield.
John Bowman, Jr..
John Bowman Jr. (1828 – 3 August 1900) was born in Cumberland, and accompanied his parents and siblings to Hobart. John and William Charles arrived in South Australia together as youngsters, accompanying their father's herd of sheep.
He was appointed Justice of the Peace in 1868 but otherwise took little part in public affairs. He acquired Poltalloch station near Tailem Bend; he and his brother William Charles, trading as Bowman Brothers, bought Cheshunt House on the Meander River 16 km above Deloraine, Tasmania.
John, hitherto a bachelor, at age 52 married William Charles's widow Jane and purchased a home, "Carolside" in New Town, Tasmania. Their son Keith Dudley was a prominent Adelaide businessman.
In 1886, he acquired land at Bethanga Flat Wodonga, Victoria which was taken over by his step-son Albert Edward (ca.1865 – 1938). He may be the John Bowman convicted of insulting a railway official at Wodonga in 1889, after his cane had been stolen and his hat knocked off by some "larrikins".
In 1889 he purchased the Toogong estate near Orange, New South Wales, which was taken over by his other step-son William Charles jun. (ca.1868–1947). In later years he shared his time between "Poltalloch", his adopted son's property in Gippsland and his summer residence "Carolside", where he died.
William Charles Bowman.
William Charles Bowman (ca.1830 – 23 February 1879) was born at Cheshunt Park, Tasmania. He acquired Crystal Brook station, which consisted of all the land between the Broughton River and the sea, and incorporated the Napperby, Nelshaby and Broughton runs. When the squat was resumed (reappropriated) by the Government, he returned to Tasmania.
Thomas Richard Bowman.
Thomas Richard Bowman (17 March 1835 – 17 February 1911) was born in Tasmania and moved to South Australia with his father and two sisters in June 1840. He worked at Crystal Brook from 1857 to 1874. He inherited "Campbell House" (later "Campbell Park"), a property on Lake Albert, where he raised sheep and cattle. He owned a three-masted schooner "Ada and Clara", named for his daughters, and captained by H. C. F. Kruse. 
In his last years he made considerable donations to a large number of charitable institutions.
He purchased a massive assemblage of photographs of early settlers from its author, Henry Jones, and presented it to the State Library.
He died at his residence "Waverley" on South Terrace, Adelaide, after a fall down stairs.
History.
John Bowman sen. (1785 – 1 June 1857) was born at Askham, Westmorland, a son of Edmund Bowman and Ann née Wilkinson, and migrated to Australia with his wife Mary née Bowman (1797 – 15 April 1865) of Celleron and six children on "Fame", a small privately chartered brig in 1828 with his family then consisting of two sons and four daughters. Their destination was Western Australia, but (according to an account of T. R. Bowman) the journey and conditions on the ship were so bad that on 31 March 1831 they disembarked in Van Diemens Land rather than carry on to Fremantle. John Bowman rented a small farm near Hobart where he grew sheep and wheat and later purchased 1,200 acres on the shores of the Big Lagoon (or Stokle's Lagoon), and a swampy area facetiously named "Lake Tiberias", where T. R. Bowman was born, then Woodlands Farm, on the Coal River. He purchased the Mount Vernon property in Tasmania.
In 1838, John sent his eldest son, the 20-year-old Edmund, to South Australia to investigate its possibilities. The ship on which he sailed, the "Parsee", was wrecked on Troubridge Shoals on 17 November 1838 and he lost all his possessions. He worked for a while with a survey party at Encounter Bay, then returned to Tasmania. He came back to Adelaide in 1839 with a few sheep and horses, camping on a section at Islington (now known as Kilburn), and was followed by his father, who had decided to sell up and move to South Australia with the rest of the family except two daughters, who remained at school in Hobart. He brought a Tasmanian-made frame house and erected it at, or near, Islington. Edmund purchased one, or two, sections at Pine Forest in Barton Vale, now known as Enfield, and a thatched pine house, or pisé and brick house, was built there for the family, who moved there in 1839.
According to T. R. Bowman's reminiscences the two brothers John and William, aged 13 and 11, came over with a consignment of sheep (and a shepherd) in the "Lady Emma", landing near Largs Bay. However, shipping records show the "Lady Emma" carrying John Bowman snr and sons Thomas Richard (4 years old) and William Charles from Launceston arriving in S.A. on 13 July 1839 and John jnr (then around 11 years old) and William (around 8 years) arriving in S.A. on 18 September 1839 aboard "Glenswilly" – it is difficult to reconcile these, even given the notorious unreliability of shipping manifests of the time, unless Thomas misremembered the ships' names and William had been sent back to help John jnr. Edmund (yet again) and his sisters Deborah and Jane arrived in S.A. aboard "Porter" on 8 December 1839. John's wife Mary and the two remaining daughters Elizabeth and Amelia Christiana arrived in SA on 13 June 1840 aboard "Lady Emma" accompanied by son John (again). There is no record of Mary jnr arriving, but one source does state that she died in SA in 1844.
Two of the daughters married and went to live at Willunga where much of the flock was transferred, with the rest run between Dry Creek and Beefacres on the River Torrens. They bought more sheep from John Kelsh (a friend who had also come out on the "Fame"), who had brought a flock from Tasmania in 1846, but grew discouraged by dog attacks, scab, and low prices. They grew wheat on land rented from E. M. Bagot, and were among the first to use the Ridley reaping machine. They took up several properties on the Wakefield River. They may also have been the first to grow Sturt's Desert Pea from seed.
John purchased Martindale Estate 3 km south of Mintaro from Drs. W. &amp; J. Browne and it was managed by his son Edmund. After the death of Edmund senior in 1866, his cousin William Bowman (see below) managed the estate for the Trustees.
The brothers also bred horses, mainly supplying the British Army in India with remounts to replace those killed or injured in battle. They were also keen racehorse owners. Among their stock was the notable sire "South Australian".
Edmund Bowman purchased Werocata estate, on the Lower Wakefield near Balaklava, sometime before 1864, which was taken over by his son Charles William. In 1886 the property was sold to the noted horse breeder Stephen S. Ralli who sold it 20 years later to George Septimus Robinson, father of parliamentarian Albert W. Robinson.
Edmund bought Wandillah near Kooringa from the estate on John and Alfred Hallett in 1878. The property was sold to the Ayers brothers and was managed by Edmund Bowman junior along with Holm Hill.
Edmund suffered from poor health and early abandoned outback work to maintain an office in Adelaide. In 1852 he built the mansion "Barton Vale" in Enfield with 5.5 m ceilings and over 2,000 square meters of floors. It still exists, at 20 Walker Court, near main North Road, and was restored during the 1990s "to its former grandeur". He died aged 43 after falling from a log bridge at his property at Port Wakefield.
Edmund's brothers Thomas, John and William worked for around 20 years on the Crystal Brook run of 500 square miles which they in 1856 bought from Younghusband &amp; Co. It carried 25,000 sheep, 3,400 cattle, and 200 horses. They suffered terribly from the droughts of 1859, 1866 to 1869, and 1874 losing 15,000 sheep one year and 10,000 in another, all the time fighting against dogs and scab. Bushfires were a regular hazard. They built dams on the River Broughton, dug their own wells, cooked their own food and even sheared their own sheep when all the shearers had left for the gold diggings. Through perseverance and hard physical work their landholdings and size of their flocks increased steadily. 
The Government resumed (took back) the northern pastoral areas for farming settlements, including the Bowman Brothers' property Napperby, which they had run as part of Crystal Brook, and now includes the hundred of Napperby, a small farming community, 8 km north-east of Port Pirie, after which the original homestead fell into decay.
In 1873 Thomas and John Bowman purchased the Poltalloch and Campbell House stations on Lake Albert, with their celebrated herds of "M7" shorthorn cattle, from Sir John Malcolm of Poltalloch, Argyleshire. They sold most of the cattle to Sir Thomas Elder to concentrate on sheep, and a year later severed their partnership: John took Poltalloch and Thomas took Campbell House. Keith D. Bowman inherited Poltalloch from his father; his brother Albert Edward had a property in Gippsland, Victoria. From 1859 Campbell House was managed by Peter Peterson both for John Malcolm and then the Bowmans. Mr Peterson had properties of his own at Bugle Ranges, South Australia and Paris Creek, South Australia, then in 1902 retired to his home "Parkindula" near Mount Barker, South Australia.
The brothers built a wool store and one of the first jetties in Port Pirie, both later taken over by the Government. They purchased three ships: one, the ketch " Napperby", ran aground on shoals at Point Lowly near Whyalla on 5 November 1875 and was scrapped.
The famous mansion "Martindale Hall" was built on Martindale Estate for Edmund junior by R. Huckson and completed in 1880, and was home for both Edmund and his brother Charles William. (Martindale, Cumbria is about 10 km from Askham, the family's hometown before emigration.)
Then in 1890, after several years of droughts and low wool prices, Edmund put the Martindale homestead up for sale. In 1892, it was sold to William Tennant Mortlock, who also purchased a large portion of the stud sheep. Werocata, Wandillah and Mount Bryan stations were also relinquished.
Family.
John Bowman (senior) (1785 – 1 June 1857) married Mary Bowman (1797 – 15 April 1865) in 1817. His last years were an ordeal. In 1854 he wandered away from his home and fears were held for his safety. He was found seven days later, alive but confused and paralysed. He died three years later. There was no obituary in the newspapers. Their children included:
*Edmund jun. (9 April 1855 – 23 August 1921) married Annie Lewers Cowle (1862 – 25 January 1936) on 2 January 1884. Annie was daughter of Charles Tobin Cowle (1834–1906), manager for South Australia of ES&amp;A Bank. He purchased Holm Hill at Mintaro, part of the Martindale estate and established a merino stud there, before having Martindale Hall built.
*E(dmund) Donat Bowman (1885 – 11 December 1926), took over Holm Hill from his father. He married Adelaide Mary Shannon ( – 12 November 1952) on 25 June 1918
*Vera Constance Bowman (10 September 1886 – 10 June 1959)
*Eunice Elizabeth Bowman (1888–1977)
*Patricia Margaret Bowman (26 July 1891 – 1970)
*Charles Sholto Bowman (1902–1966)
*Jocelyn Eleanor Bowman (1904–)
*Charles William (known as William) (7 February 1857 – 3 September 1928) married Elizabeth Georgina Bryant ( – 28 June 1941) in 1920, early managed Mount Bryan Station then home at Victor Harbor, bred merino sheep near Hammond, a town 30 km NE of Wilmington. Much of his sheepfarming business was conducted in partnership with Charles and Thomas Chewings as Bowman &amp; Chewings.
*Clarissa Eveline (11 February 1861 – 24 June 1948)
*Alice Elizabeth (1862 – 22 April 1928) married Alexander "Alick" James Murray (ca.1850 – 18 April 1929) on 23 June 1891.
*Hubert "Bertie" Bowman (8