Bowman, John, General Storekeeper and Gum Buyer, Ahipara. Mr. Bowman was born at Bangor, County Down, North of Ireland, in 1824, and followed the business of a butcher and cattle-dealer until 1852 when he left for Australia by the “James Carson,” landing in Melbourne. On his arrival he went to the gold diggings and spent nearly six years at Ballarat and Bendigo, where he did very well. In 1858 he visited the Old Country and on his return to the Colony in 1861, he left almost immediately for the “rush” at Gabriel's Gully and afterwards went to the Coromandel field, where he worked with success on the Kapanga claim for some time, he and his three mates being the first to erect machinery. In 1866, he removed to Ahipara and started his present business.