Bowes was born at Swineside, Coverdale, in Coverham parish, Yorkshire, on 12 June 1804, son parents of very humble circumstances.
[1] Bowes was an earnest and vigorous platform speaker, ever ready to combat with socialists, freethinkers, or Roman Catholics.
During the greater portion of his life, Bowes refused to accept a salary for his ministrations, and he seems to have supported himself and family chiefly by the sale of his own tracts and books.
His son, Robert Aitken Bowes, was editor of the Bolton Guardian, and died on 7 November 1879, aged 42.
Bowes' publications consist of some 220 tracts; two series of magazines—the Christian Magazine and the Truth Promoter—issued between 1842 and 1874; pamphlets on The Errors of the Church of Rome,;; Mormonism exposed, Second Coming of Christ, The Ministry,;; &c. ; discussions with Lloyd Jones, G. J. Holyoake, Joseph Barker, C. Southwell, W. Woodman, and T. H. Milner; a volume on Christian Union (1835, 310 pages); a translation by himself of the New Testament (1870); and his Autobiography (1872).