Adam Bowlby (1792-1883) was born in 1792 to Richard Bowlby, and wife Elizabeth Hawksworth. Adam moved to Upper Canada in 1815 to live with his uncle Thomas Bowlby, the first Bowlby family member to come to Upper Canada and here Adam set up a gristmill. After a few years manufacturing tools and implements for farmers, Adam purchased a small parcel of 450 acres in Townsend around the time of his marriage, in 1819, to Elizabeth Sovereign of New Jersey. The farm was built up over a period of 21 years to approximately 3,000 acres. During this 21 year period Adam and Elizabeth had six children: Alfred Bowlby in 1820, William Bowlby in 1822, David Sovereign Bowlby in 1828, Mary Ursula Bowlby Powell in 1830, Ward Hamilton Bowlby, in 1834, John Wedgewood Bowlby in 1837. During this time Adam served as magistrate and district councilor, treasurer of the Masonic Lodge and Captain of the Waterford Company during the rebellions of 1837-38. Adam eventually left his farm to son William (the only farmer in the family) and settled in Berlin (Kitchener) where he died in 1883 at the age of 91.