John Bowes

John Bowes (19 June 1811 London – 9 October 1885 Streatlam, co. Durham) was an English art collector and thoroughbred racehorse owner who founded the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, Teesdale. Family background Born into the wealthy coal mining descendants of George Bowes, he was the child of John Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1769–1820) and his mistress or common-law wife Mary Millner, later wife of Sir William Hutt. His paternal grandmother was Mary Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Because his parents were unmarried at the time of his birth, he did not inherit the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne title. All sources describe Bowes as the fully and openly acknowledged son of the 10th Earl. 1820 legitimacy case