A reclusive bachelor who lived alone on his farm on the North Kinangop. He was found dead in his bath, slashed to death by pangas.

Best - Outside his house his two Kikuyu servants had also been murdered, and the house ransacked.  

Campbell - A white farmer called Eric Bowyer was cut to pieces in his bath. His two African servants were slaughtered in the farmhouse kitchen. ..... Bowyer, a middle-aged man, who lived alone on his farm, and kept a 'duka', a small store for selling goods to Africans. "He was an extremely generous chap and was very fond of the Kikuyu..." - Roger Ruck. He was a farmer and a neighbour of Bowyer. "Bowyer was slashed to bits," said Roger Ruck, who had a black stubble of beard, and whose lips were pale. "All the fingers of one hand were gone. After they killed him they disembowelled him. When we tried to lift the body out of the bath, bits of his bowels began to slide down the drain." His face worked. "Bloody Kukes". Ruck told us there were about 20 farmers with their wives and children living on the plateau. ..... Mrs Ruck drove up. She was a pretty, fair-haired girl, with a lovely complexion. Ruck introduced us to his wife. "She's been nursing Kukes," he said bitterly. "She's a qualified doctor. She looks after their children, and hands out medicines to the sick." "Not any more," said Mrs Ruck. "After Bowyer, I'd rather tend animals." ..... "I'll tell you one thing." Ruck said, "and you can print it. These bastards won't get me the way they got Bowyer. From now on, so far as I'm concerned a dead Kuke is a safe Kuke." He repeated: "They'll never get me."

Precarious - He lived alone on his farm some 3 miles from the P.O., the life of a semi recluse, the while he became friendly with the natives of those parts, both 'boys' and 'bibis', for whom he did much...…   

Ione - 28-10-52 - Savage murder of Eric Bowyer. He was found in his bath with his head gashed open. Fractions of his skull and brains were missing; his limbs had been hacked to pieces, his stomach so savagely cut open that part of his intestines were protruding. In the kitchen two African boys, who had worked for him, were found with their throats cut, their bodies mutilated; they were about 14 and 16. Eric Bowyer was a quiet, gentle person who had lived in Kenya for 30 years. He was divorced from his wife, and at the age of 50 was living a retired life on a small farm on the Kinangop. He used to run a store from his house supplying the natives with diverse articles, such as cigarettes, shirts and shorts. Although he had served in both wars and was accustomed to the use of arms, he never took the precaution of keeping a gun in the house. He was a man who made no enemies, black or white. Though his house was in an isolated position on the edge of the forest, a mile from his nearest neighbour, that he should need protection never entered his mind.  

Stoneham - Mau - Bowyer had a small farm on the Kinangop ....... he was well liked by his neighbours, but he kept to himself a good deal and worked hard on his small property. It was no more than a mile from the forest, in whose depths wild beasts, and wilder men, might lurk, but apparently Bowyer anticipated no evil beyond his powers to combat. He had a rifle, and like my friend at Thika he watched the doors and took no chances. Still, when one goes to take a bath after a hard day's work one does not carry a gun. Two young boys were in the kitchen, it was just after 7 in the evening, all was quiet and ordinary. It is probable that the Mau Mau watched the house from the forest and chose their moment for attack. Twelve of them appeared suddenly in the kitchen and killed the two boys there without giving them a chance to cry their alarm to their master. They beat them down with pangas and left them mangled. Then they rushed into the house, bust in the bathroom door and slashed Bowyer across the stomach with their terrible weapons. He had no chance to defend himself. At such moments the African goes mad with blood lust. I have seen them surround a wounded buck, slashing and beating in a wild flurry of excitement and cruelty, obstructing each other, each one frantic to land his blow. I can picture the scene in that bathroom.

Hut has Eric J.N. Bowyer 1931 S. Kinangop Naivasha Store Van Ry. and Harries - murdered by Mau Mau - married to Charlie

Eric Joseph Neale - KR 2700 

Red 31 has E.J.N. Bowyer, Naivasha

Gazette - 15/5/1928 - Application for Wine Merchants and Grocers Liquor Licence - Naivasha Stores per Eric J.N. Bowyer

Gazette 25 Nov 1952 probate