place name
Sir Edmund Bowyer (May 12, 1552 – February 18, 1627) was a Camberwell-born lawyer and MP, who acquired the manor of Camberwell in 1583. He was the eldest son of John Bowyer, Page of the Jewels to King Henry VIII. The manor was originally the property of the Duke of Buckingham, who named the area Camberwell-Buckingham. But when he fell foul of the king in 1521 his lands were seized and he was beheaded on the grounds of plotting to kill the monarch. The property descended through generations of Bowyers, centuries later coming into the ownership of Sir William Bowyer, who found himself at the heart of controversies over the fate of the Camberwell Fair. This annual event which had run for over 600 years on the family’s land at Camberwell Green had, by the 19thCentury become a riotous affair. Residents living near the green had long campaigned it was a nuisance and sought to have it shut down. In 1855 they got their wish after the authorities agreed it was the scene of “immoral and riotous behaviour”. Bowyer appeared in court on charges of “holding Camberwell Fair without any legal authority”. Not long after the green was converted to public use. In 1961 the manor house, which had stood on the right hand side of the road from London to Camberwell Green, was demolished. The street itself started life as Beckett Street. By 1952 it had been renamed.
