The first ‘Bowdler’ in England Baldwin de Boulers was from Boelare, Flanders (Belgium) and was son of Stephen, Baron of Boelare. The family is known to be in Boelare from 972 to around 1200.
The de Boulers were based in Montgomery and owned lands in Shropshire from 1106 onwards. As the name changed to Bowdler the family was still associated predominantly with Montgomery and Shropshire to the 1600s.
From 1600, while there were still many Bowdler lines still in Shropshire, we see the following movements:
- 1650 Bowdlers are found in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire
- 1658 Thomas Bowdler emigrated to Maryland, USA and dropped the ‘r’ to start the Bowdle line.
- 1700 Bowdlers are found in Kimbolton, Herefordshire
- 1700 Bowdlers are found in Lincolnshire
- 1700 Bowdlers are found in Ellesmere, Cheshire
- 1700 Bowdlers are found in Middlesex
- 1750 Bowdlers from Ludlow settle in Bath, Somerset producing many literary works.
- 1775 Bowdlers are found in Nottinghamshire
- 1780 Bowdlers are found in Birmingham
By the mid-1800s the family lines had spread widely across the UK but it can be seen from the cencus that the greatest concentration of UK Bowdlers was still in Shropshire and the Midlands.
Outside the UK there were some Bowdlers in Australia but not in America. The Bowdle family however were thriving, mainly in Ohio.
1850 Bowdler Distribution
| Country | Place | Count |
| England | Berkshire | 12 |
| Buckinghamshire | 2 | |
| Cheshire | 7 | |
| Gloucestershire | 8 | |
| Herefordshire | 26 | |
| Hertfordshire | 6 | |
| Lancashire | 23 | |
| Lincolnshire | 4 | |
| Middlesex | 37 | |
| Nottinghamshire | 4 | |
| Shropshire | 198 | |
| Somerset | 1 | |
| Staffordshire | 88 | |
| Surrey | 11 | |
| Warwickshire | 5 | |
| Worcestershire | 34 | |
| Yorkshire | 14 | |
| Wales | Monmouthshire | 8 |
| Montgomeryshire | 20 | |
| Scotland | 0 | |
| Ireland | 0 | |
| USA – Bowdler | 0 | |
| USA – Bowdle | Indiana | 8 |
| Maryland | 39 | |
| New York | 4 | |
| Ohio | 92 | |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | |
| Australia | 20 (approx.) | |
| Canada | 0 | |
| New Zealand | 0 | |
| South Africa | 0 |
Since the late 1800s Bowdlers have spread across the world to America, Australia, France, New Zealand and South Africa. These were people from different family lines so for example, the Bowdlers now in Australia are not all from the same line and not necessarily directly related to eachother. From this point, I have linked Bowdlers around the world to the main lines they came from rather than their country of residence.
2014 Bowdler Distribution
| Country | Place | Count |
| England | 1000 | |
| USA – Bowdler | 326 | |
| USA – Bowdle | 358 | |
| Australia | 228 | |
| Wales | 81 | |
| New Zealand | 53 | |
| South Africa | 36 | |
| Malta | 30 | |
| Canada | 18 | |
| Scotland | 16 | |
| France | 14 | |
| Northern Ireland | 2 | |
| Malaysia | 1 | |
| Italy | 1 | |
| Germany | 1 | |
| Czechia | 1 | |
| Cyprus | 1 | |
| Belgium | 1 | |
| Ireland | 1 |
To the best of my knowledge all Bowdlers around the world do come from Baldwin, Lord of Montgomery, so we are all related, it’s just a question of finding the link.