Early Life
Born on Bermuda, Bowen moved to the proprietary colony of Carolina and joined an English ship, serving as Petty Officer. After an unknown period of time, Bowen's ship was attacked and he was captured by French pirates. The pirates then crossed the Atlantic Ocean, heading to Madagascar, but ran aground near Elesa to the south of the island. There Bowen, along with a number of English merchant captains and seamen who had also been imprisoned aboard the privateer's vessel, seized the ship's longboat and sailed the 15 leagues (45 miles) to St. Augustine. Bowen remained there for the next 18 months before entering piracy - he joined the crew of Captain Read, leaving the island and being elected sailing master by the crew.
Following the capture of a large Indian ship by Read, Bowen returned to Madagascar and joined George Booth as a member of the crew. In April 1699 the pirates captured the 450 ton, 50-gun former slave ship Speaker. Bowen continued to sail under Booth's command until, in 1700 George Booth was killed by Arabs at the settlement of Zanzibar while attempting to negotiate the resupplying of the Speaker.
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