A PUPIL’S school project has proved to be a swansong for her primary education after discovering she is related to royalty.
Genealogy investigations by Barnard Castle Preparatory School pupil Evie Procter have traced her heritage back to John Bowes, who founded Bowes Museum with his French wife Joséphine in the 1860s.
John was part of the Bowes-Lyon lineage, the family of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who was married to George VI. A businessman and the son of the 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, John met Joséphine when he bought the Théâtre Des Variétés in Paris, where she was an actress and they married in 1852.
Evie decided to continue family research started by her grandmother and mother as part of her Achievement Award, an alternative to SATs used by the school to challenge Year 6 pupils.
Once she had discovered the links to the Bowes family she decided to make a full-scale copy of Bowes Museum’s famous 1773 silver automaton swan, which comes to life every day at 2pm to dip its head and catch a fish.
The 11-year-old, of Middlestone village, said: “My mum’s side of the family were Jenkinson but gran was a Bowes before she married David Jenkinson. So it was very exciting and interesting to find we were related to the Royals. When I started the project I didn’t realise I was related to the people who founded the museum next door.
“I wanted to find out more about Joséphine, who fell in love with John and came to England. They bought the mechanical swan together.
“My swan is made from papier-mâché with a clay head, painted silver. We used wood in the neck so it articulates and moves side to side. There’s also a magnet in the beak so it can pick up a fish made from reflective paper and another magnet.”
Evie said she loved working on the Achievement Award all year and she felt it was a much more worthy alternative to SATs.
“With exams you revise and revise then it is all over in a week,” she said. “We work hard all year round. It is a lot of fun. It is so exciting when you find things out that you never knew. Without it I would never have known that I was linked to Bowes Museum and the Royal Family.”
Head teacher Laura Turner said: “The children have free choice as to what they would like to study for this project and it is fascinating to see what they unearth. It is amazing to think that Evie has discovered these links to Bowes Museum and the Royals and her swan is absolutely magnificent.”
Bowes Museum marketing and communications co-ordinator Sarah Webster said: “Evie’s project is a shining example of how curiosity and creativity can transform learning. We were delighted to see that she had created her very own Silver Swan following the discovery, a fitting tribute that brings the museum’s heritage to life in such a meaningful and imaginative way – especially in the year marking 200 years of our founder, Joséphine Bowes.”