In The Tipperary Bowles, the Bowles of Peel's family history written in the 1940's, the Rev. R. P. Bowles wrote "From my Uncle John I first learned that the Bowles were of English stock, one of whom found his way to Ireland with Cromwell's army of subjection....tradition has it that these Bowles, of whom we have no history, had served in the Irish Constabulary by which England made effective her will in the green, rebellious, freedom‑loving island."  (Note: the Constabulary reference would actually refer to a county Militia as the Constabulary itself was only formed in 1816.)

This may be a reference to The Boles of Cork, Ireland who trace their origin back to two brothers, Thomas and Richard Boles who settled in Cork in the early 1600's and who later served Cromwell by assisting in his occupation of Cork.  See The Boles of Cork for more information on their families.  By the late 1700's the documented lines of these Boles had settled in South Tipperary primarily at Cashel and Clonmel and at Woodhouse near Fethard which is just south of the Slieveardagh Hills, the homeland of the Bowles of Peel.  Some of the Boles of Cork did indeed adopt the Bowles spelling but this still may just be a geographic coincidence.  There are records for many more Bowles in this area who have not yet been connected to the Boles of Cork lines of descent and may yet turn out to be completely unrelated.  Still the family tradition has to be considered.  See The Bowles of Tipperary.

George Bowles of Tipperary married Barbara Young (probably originally Jung) from the German Palatinate settlement in Kilcooly parish in about 1795 and their son Charles was born about 1797. 

The 1826 Tithe Applotment Book lists  George and Charles Bowles in Bawnlea (or Bawnreagh), Kilkooly parish, Tipperary co. and a John Bowles and the widow Bowles living in The Commons. All four were tenants of Chambre Brabazon-Barker, Esquire of Kilcooley.  Barker's sister, Mary Chambre Brabazon-Barker, was married to Thomas Barton who was the landlord of the Bowles family in Fethard providing a likelihood of a connection between the Bowles of Kilcooley and the Bowles of Fethard.

On this map, Bawnlea was between Grange and (The) Commons, the road in between was known as The Palatine Street and was the location of a German Palatinate settlement in Ireland.  This is about 15 miles northeast of Cashel and about 10 miles north of Fethard.

What was daily life like for this family and what drove them to abandon this life for a new life in Canada?

The late 1700's were a very violent time in Ireland with events coming to a head with the rebellion of 1798.  The Society of United Irishmen of the 1790's gathered Catholic, Presbyterian and Church of Ireland loyalists together in a movement towards an independent Irish Republic.  After their efforts were crushed by the British Garrison in 1798, any semblance of a united resistance crumbled as the independence movement reorganized and polarized along religious lines. In order to break up the united resistance movements, the Government imposed increased restrictions on Catholics only which resulted in Catholic agrarian resistance groups being formed.  The Orange Order was founded in 1795 and quickly gained support from the majority of the Anglo-Irish on the island. Each group gaining in strength as the need to defend themselves from the other group strengthened.

The Bowles were inevitably swept up in this polarization.  George's sons Charles and David were both signers of an anti-Catholic petition in 1827.  The Tipperary Free Press condemned the petition and published the names of the signers, Charles and David’s names appearing in the May 12, 1827 issue. 

Charles Bowles had married Nancy Barrie at Kilkenny Village, Kilcooly, Tipperary about 1824.  Their daughter Eliza was born there in 1826.  Then in May 1827, they left for the Port of Wexford (about 40 miles away) and sailed to Quebec and then went on to “muddy York”.  We can't know how big a factor the issue of the anti-Catholic petition played in their decision to leave Ireland.

They lived in Toronto for two years (son John born Toronto) where he worked as a stone mason and then bought land and homesteaded in Peel county, Ontario.  Charles parents then followed them from Ireland along with his brother, David, and his sister, Rose, but his father, George, died soon after arriving (1830) and was the first person to be buried in the Sandhill Cemetary in Albion twp, Peel co.