where does the name bowater originate from?

Question

my grandmother was a bowater her maiden name was wheelhouse her mothers maiden name was i think jennings

Answer 1

Hey Skull,

Swyrich.com by James Wolf says:

Origin: English
Spelling variations of this family name include: Bowater, Boewater, Bowatar, Boughwater and others.

First found in Middlesex where they were anciently seated as Lords of the Manor.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands.
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This agrees with the other question you asked this morning, if you look at the Family Search site.

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Swyrich says Wheelhouse is also English:
wheelhouse

Origin: English

Spelling variations of this family name include: Wheelhouse, Weelhouse, Weelhous, Wheelhous, Wheelas, Wheelar and many more.

First found in Yorkshire where they were anciently seated as Lords of the Manor.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Richard Wheelhouse, who came to Virginia in 1695; John Wheelhouse, a bonded passenger, who arrived in America in 1745; as well as David Wheelhouse, who arrived in Norfolk, VA in 1774 with his wife and their three children.
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and Jennings is either English or Irish:
English:
jennings
(2 origins available)
Spelling variations of this family name include: Jennings, Jenings, Jennins, Jennyns, Jennens, Jennynge, Jennynges, Jenyns and many more.

First found in Lancashire where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Hannah Jenings who settled in the Barbados in 1654 along with John; Thomas Jenings settled in Virginia in 1636; Edward Jennings settled in Virginia in 1643.
IRISH version:
jennings
(2 origins available)
Spelling variations of this family name include: Jenning, Jennings, MacSheoinin, MacIonyn and many more.

First found in Connacht, where, at the time of the "Composition of Connacht," in 1585, they held extensive lands in the baronies of Dunmore, county Galway and Kilmaine, County Mayo.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Julia A. Jenning, who arrived in Vermont sometime between 1824 and 1906; Bridget Jennings, who is listed in 1847 at Grosse Isle, Canada as having died at sea
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You should be able to look them both up in Family Search.com also.

Answer 2

Gentle lesson #1... in genealogical research, your grandmother is/was a Wheelhouse by birth, and that's where you would be looking for her lineage. Bowater would be a husband's name.
There are tons of Wheelhouse listings in the family files at rootsweb.com, at least one says from Germany, but most are English. None of these files show a Wheelhouse - Jennings marriage, but it still is possible that the ancestor might be there, but without spouse name being entered.
The problem is that we are not sure where we might hunt for grandma, since you did not include a country where she lived.

Answer 3

I have sent you a link to a site that will tell you all about your ancestors employment where your family name comes from it's really interesting http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/Fact.aspx?fid=5&ln=bowater