John Charles Bowring (24 March 1821England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 – 20 June 1893)England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 was a Hong Kong businessman, a partner in the firm Jardine, Matheson & Co., and a keen amateur naturalist and JP for the County of Devon.
He was the eldest son of John Bowring (1792–1872), of Exeter, Devon, Governor of Hong Kong, and accompanied him on some of his travels. He was brother of Lewin Bentham Bowring and Edgar Alfred Bowring.
Bowring was a passionate botanist and entomologist (more specifically a coleopterist; a student in the study of beetles). Throughout his travels with his father, Sir John Bowring, he studied, took notes, and collected certain rare plants and beetles whenever the opportunity presented itself. In 1852 Bowring brought from Hong Kong ferns, mosses, and flowering plants back to England.A Biographical Index of British and Irish Botanists Compiled by James Britten; James Britten; West Newman & Company; London; 1899; Third Supplement: p. 2
In 1862, Bowring built Larkbeare House as his residence in Exeter: the house is on Topsham Road, close to St Leonard's Church, with extensive riverside gardens, designed to house Bowring's plant collection. The house later became judges' lodgings and then a register office for Devon County Council.
His sons included: Sir Charles Calvert Bowring, Governor of Nyasaland Rear Admiral Humphrey Wykeham Bowring He left a large collection of coleoptera to the British Museum.
Two species of lizards, Hemidactylus bowringii and Subdoluseps bowringii, are named in honor of John Charles Bowring or his father Sir John Bowring.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Bowring", p. 36).
References
External links J.C. Bowring's gift of Egyptian artifacts to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter