British naturalist and paleontologist best known for his studies of British sponges.

Bowerbank devoted much time to the study of natural history while running a family business, Bowerbank and Company, distillers, in which he was an active partner until 1847. He lectured on botany (1822–24) and human osteology (1831) and founded, with six others, the London Clay Club (1836). In 1847 he founded the Paleontographical Society as an instrument for publication of undescribed British fossils. His most important publications are A History of the Fossil Fruits and Seeds of the London Clay (1840), a standard work, and Monograph of the British Spongiadae (4 vol., 1864–82).