A wealthy shipping agent ("ship husband") from Portsmouth, he retired about 1772 to Publow when his wife founded a school for girls there at the encouragement of Rev. John Wesley, co-founder of the Methodist faith. John Owen's family were members of the Pensford congregation, the town being in the same parish as Publow. John Owen almost certainly died in 1779 in Publow, as indicated in a letter dated 5 Feb 1779 from his daughter Hannah Frances to Rev. John Wesley, wherein she writes "My dear father seems declining very fast. I fear he cannot live long." No trace of Owen's grave remains, which is not surprising, given that the church was rebuilt in 1868 and became derelict following severe damage to it in 1968 from a flood.
A wealthy shipping agent ("ship husband") from Portsmouth, he retired about 1772 to Publow when his wife founded a school for girls there at the encouragement of Rev. John Wesley, co-founder of the Methodist faith. John Owen's family were members of the Pensford congregation, the town being in the same parish as Publow. John Owen almost certainly died in 1779 in Publow, as indicated in a letter dated 5 Feb 1779 from his daughter Hannah Frances to Rev. John Wesley, wherein she writes "My dear father seems declining very fast. I fear he cannot live long." No trace of Owen's grave remains, which is not surprising, given that the church was rebuilt in 1868 and became derelict following severe damage to it in 1968 from a flood.
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