William Bowyer

William Bowyer (d. 1569/1570) was an antiquary and government official who was a Member of Parliament and Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London early in the reign of Elizabeth I of England. He was the first Keeper to systematically organise and catalogue the store of government records maintained in the Tower. An avid collector of old manuscripts, he also created Heroica Eulogia, a compilation of grants and verse eulogies relating to the earls of Leicester, along with satirical verses and illustrations, for presentation to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Early life William Bowyer was a son of Robert Bowyer, merchant and four-time mayor of Chichester, Sussex, and his wife Margaret. Little is known of William's life before 1553, when he followed his older brother Robert into the Middle Temple. William married Agnes, daughter of Sir John Harcourt (d. 1566) of Oxfordshire and Staffordshire, the widow of John Knyvet of Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk. They had three children: William (died young) Robert (d. 1621) Judith, married Richard Highgate