Elizabeth Stuart Bowdler [née Cotton] (d. 1797) was an English religious writer.
It is after her son Thomas, the editor of The Family Shakspeare, that the term "bowdlerize" is named.
She was the author of Practical Observations on the Revelation of St John, that is, the section of the Bible known as the Book of Revelation, which was published anonymously in 1787.
It was re-issued after her death, in 1800, as 'Practical Observations on the Revelation of St John, by the Late Mrs Bowdler'.
In a new preface written to accompany the text, the editor wrote that Bowdler's book had appeared to prophesy the French Revolution.