Name from birth search of son on New Zealand BDM website in March 2022:
1857/5476. Gower, Alfred Alexander. Mother: Emily Isabella. Father: George

Occupation of Chemist, born in Hollingbourne village, Maidstone, Kent, England, on 21 June 1826[?], died April 1909, buried Heads Road Cemetery Wanganui, from headstone found and photographed in January 2009.

Country of death, from death search on New Zealand BDM website in April 2022:
1881/2351. Gower, George. Died age 55Y [Therefore born circa 1826]

Full date of death of 1 April 1881 from further searching in April 2022 on BDM Search by incrementally changing the date range for the death.

Entry in the 1851 England Census for the Parish of Maidstone, in the District of Trinity, in the borough of Maidstone: found in April 2022:
68 Sandling Road, George Gower, Son-in law of head of household, age 34, Chemist, born Hollingbourne, Kent
68 Sandling Road, Emily Gower [Emily Bootes], age 34, born Maidstone, Kent

Record of marriage found online under wife’s name in April 2022:
Name: Emily Isabella Eleanor Bootes
Registration Year: 1849
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration District: Maidstone
Inferred County: Kent

Confirmation of date of birth “21 Jun 1826”, full date of marriage “16 June 1849”, George and Emily had 7 children, place of death “Turakina” from Winsome Griffin, in an email dated 25 December 2023.

Winsome Griffin's (nee Guilford) husband, Neville Griffin, is related to the Bayly family. Neville's maternal grandfather, George Newsham, had a sister, Emma Eliza Newsham. She married Albert George Bayly. Albert had a sister, Emma Bayly, and she was the mother of Elinor May Gower, the maternal step-grandmother of Brian of nzolivers.

And, Winsome Griffin (nee Guilford) is the granddaughter of Francis Charles Guilford (1876-1961) whose second wife, Laura Elizabeth Wood, was first married to Charles Ernest Oliver, grandson of James (1805-1886) and Ruth (nee Batten) Oliver.

Interesting article on George and wife Emily as posted in the "Old Bottles Wanted" Facebook group on 27 May 2024:
GEORGE GOWER
Born in 1826 at Hollingbourne, Maidstone, Kent, England. In the 1851 English census his occupation was recorded as Chemist. Sailing from London on board the Southern Cross, arriving in Wellington via Otago on March 26th 1856. They then traveled by the schooner Tyne, which made fortnightly voyages between Wellington and Wanganui.
George setup business as a Druggist in Ridgeway Street, Wanganui; town section 68. The first we hear of him is in 1857 as a consequence of a fire at his premises “On the night of last Thursday, an alarm of Fire was given at the premises occupied by Mr Gower, Druggist in Ridgeway Street.”.
In March 1862 George gives notice that he has imported “machine and materials for making aerated drinks of all kinds”. By July 1867, he had setup a a dispensary in Turakina south east of Wanganui.
In January 1868 George was declared bankrupt. His stock in trade put up for auction, including the lease, soda water machine, and 50 gross bottles. A further 100 gross was put up for sale in April (a gross is 144). However, within a month of the declaration it was advertised that the “Wanganui Lemonade and Soda-Water Company” will resume under the management of George Gower. Some manoeuvring had taken place that allowed him to continue operating. The insolvency proceedings dragged on until at least August 1868. The proceedings confirmed that he was also in business in Turakina as a Ginger Beer and Soda Water Manufacturer.
In December 1868, fire destroyed a number of establishments including the Ridgeway Street premises occupied by Gower. Insured for the majority of his loss, he was back in business by at latest January 1870 when he advertised to Hotels he was fixing prices with Robert Evans, another manufacturer.
Omission from the Rangitikei rate book for 1872-3 suggests the Turakina business operated no later than 1870/1. In 1879 Gower’s business in Ridgeway Street is put up for sale due to ill health, however, it was not sold.
In the 1970’s a cache of torpedo bottles were dug at the site of his Turakina business. Included were plain, plain marked “G” with a cross, repurposed “Butemont” and “Gower” embossed bottles. All appeared to have been purposefully broken.
On the 1st April 1881, George Gower died, aged 55 years. Mrs Gower [Emily Isabella Eleanor, nee Boots] announced that she was carrying on the business with the support of her family. The Wanganui rate books show the Ridgeway Street property had been leased to a S. Hooper by 1881/2. Wise’s indicates that Mrs Gower, cordial manufacturer, was at Church Place. The business can’t have endured long as she moved to Hawera to live with her son Adolphus Gower, also an Aerated Water Manufacturer who died in 1885. She then returned to the cottage in Turakina.
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