Sir Henry Bowles, 1st Baronet
Encyclopedia
Colonel Sir Henry Ferryman Bowles, 1st Baronet (19 December 1858 – 14 October 1943), was a British
military officer and Conservative
politician.
He was the eldest son of Henry Carrington Bowles Bowles of Myddelton House, Bulls Cross, Hertfordshire
and Cornelia née Kingdom. He was educated at Harrow School
and Jesus College, Cambridge
, graduating with a bachelor of arts
degree in 1881 and a master of arts in 1884. He was called to the bar
at the Inner Temple
in 1883. He married Florence "Dolly" Broughton of Tunstall Hall, Shropshire
in 1889. In 1895 he moved to Forty Hall
, near Enfield
, Middlesex
, which his father had purchased in the previous year. His younger brother Gussie was the distinguished horticulturalist E.A. Bowles.
, holding commissions in the Militia
, Volunteer Force
and Territorial Force
. He was first commissioned as a second lieutenant in the King's Own Tower Hamlets
Militia in August 1878, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in September 1880. Under the Childers Reforms
, the Tower Hamlets militia became the 7th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade in 1881. Bowles was promoted to captain in February 1882. He eventually rose to the rank of major and honorary lieutenant colonel of the battalion. In May 1899 he transferred to the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment
. When the volunteers were reorganised as the Territorial Force in 1908, Bowles was appointed honorary colonel of the successor 7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. During the First World War he was appointed county commandant for volunteer units in Middlesex, and retired at the end of the conflict with rank of colonel.
, elected to represent Enfield West in 1889. After 20 years as a councillor he was elevated to the position of county alderman
in 1909. He retired from the council in 1936, following 47 years of membership.
In March 1889 the sitting Conservative MP
for Enfield
, Viscount Folkestone
, was elevated to the peerage on the death of his father, the Earl of Radnor
. Bowles was unanimously chosen by local Conservative and Unionist Association to defend the seat. The main issue in the by-election campaign was Irish Home Rule, and Bowles managed to defeat his Liberal Party
opponent by a little over 1,500 votes. He was re-elected at the general elections of 1892
, 1895
(unopposed) and 1900
. At the 1906 general election
there was a large swing to the Liberals, and Bowles was defeated by James Branch
.
Twelve years later Bowles returned to parliament at the 1918 general election
, when he was elected as the Coalition Conservative MP for the redrawn Enfield constituency. He retired from parliament at the next general election in 1922
.
for Middlesex for over 50 years, and chairman of the Edmonton Petty Sessional Division for 21 years. He was appointed High Sheriff of Middlesex
for 1928. In 1936 he retired from the bench.
Bowles was an early motoring enthusiast, and was the first president of the Middlesex County Automobile Club
retaining the position from 1905 until his death. He was a long serving member of the Court of the Goldsmiths' Company
.
on 13 October 1943, and died on the following day at Enfield War Memorial Hospital aged 84.
His daughter, Wilma Mary Garnault Bowles (d. 1928), married Eustace Parker in 1913. In 1920 Eustace changed his name to Bowles by Royal Licence and his grandson is Andrew Parker Bowles
, former husband of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Sir Henry's wife had predeceased him in 1935, and the baronetcy became extinct upon his death.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
military officer and Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician.
He was the eldest son of Henry Carrington Bowles Bowles of Myddelton House, Bulls Cross, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and Cornelia née Kingdom. He was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
, graduating with a bachelor of arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in 1881 and a master of arts in 1884. He was called to the bar
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
at the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in 1883. He married Florence "Dolly" Broughton of Tunstall Hall, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
in 1889. In 1895 he moved to Forty Hall
Forty Hall
Forty Hall is a manor house of the 1620s in Forty Hill in Enfield, north London. The house, a Grade I listed building, is today used as a museum by the London Borough of Enfield. Within the grounds is the site of the former Tudor Elsyng Palace.-Location:...
, near Enfield
Enfield Town
Enfield Town is the historic town centre of Enfield, formerly in the county of Middlesex and now in the London Borough of Enfield. It is north north-east of Charing Cross...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, which his father had purchased in the previous year. His younger brother Gussie was the distinguished horticulturalist E.A. Bowles.
Military service
Bowles had a long association with the reserve forces of the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, holding commissions in the Militia
Militia (United Kingdom)
The Militia of the United Kingdom were the military reserve forces of the United Kingdom after the Union in 1801 of the former Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland....
, Volunteer Force
Volunteer Force (Great Britain)
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the...
and Territorial Force
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
. He was first commissioned as a second lieutenant in the King's Own Tower Hamlets
Tower division
The Tower Division was a liberty, a historical form of local government, in the ancient county of Middlesex, England. It was also known as the Tower Hamlets, and took its name from being under the special jurisdiction of the Constable of the Tower of London...
Militia in August 1878, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in September 1880. Under the Childers Reforms
Childers Reforms
The Childers Reforms restructured the infantry regiments of the British army. The reforms were undertaken by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers in 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell reforms....
, the Tower Hamlets militia became the 7th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade in 1881. Bowles was promoted to captain in February 1882. He eventually rose to the rank of major and honorary lieutenant colonel of the battalion. In May 1899 he transferred to the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment
Middlesex Regiment
The Middlesex Regiment was a regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms when the 57th and 77th Regiments of Foot were amalgamated with the county's militia and rifle volunteer units.On 31 December 1966 The Middlesex Regiment was amalgamated with three...
. When the volunteers were reorganised as the Territorial Force in 1908, Bowles was appointed honorary colonel of the successor 7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. During the First World War he was appointed county commandant for volunteer units in Middlesex, and retired at the end of the conflict with rank of colonel.
Local and parliamentary politics
A Conservative in politics, Bowles was one of the original members of the Middlesex County CouncilMiddlesex County Council
Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965.The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the county to constitute the County of London...
, elected to represent Enfield West in 1889. After 20 years as a councillor he was elevated to the position of county alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
in 1909. He retired from the council in 1936, following 47 years of membership.
In March 1889 the sitting Conservative MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Enfield
Enfield (UK Parliament constituency)
Enfield was a parliamentary constituency of Middlesex centred on the town of Enfield. The area formed part of the London conurbation. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.-History:The...
, Viscount Folkestone
William Pleydell-Bouverie, 5th Earl of Radnor
William Pleydell-Bouverie, 5th Earl of Radnor PC , styled Viscount Folkestone from 1869 to 1889, was a British Conservative politician...
, was elevated to the peerage on the death of his father, the Earl of Radnor
Earl of Radnor
Earl of Radnor is a title which has been created two times. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1679 for John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes, a notable political figure of the reign of Charles II. He was made Viscount Bodmin at the same time. Robartes was the son of Richard Robartes,...
. Bowles was unanimously chosen by local Conservative and Unionist Association to defend the seat. The main issue in the by-election campaign was Irish Home Rule, and Bowles managed to defeat his Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
opponent by a little over 1,500 votes. He was re-elected at the general elections of 1892
United Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
, 1895
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
(unopposed) and 1900
United Kingdom general election, 1900
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
. At the 1906 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
there was a large swing to the Liberals, and Bowles was defeated by James Branch
James Branch
James Branch , was a British boot manufacturer and Liberal politician. Branch was born in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, where he established a boot factory. An active member of the Liberal Party, he was president of the Bethnal Green Liberal Association for twenty years...
.
Twelve years later Bowles returned to parliament at the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
, when he was elected as the Coalition Conservative MP for the redrawn Enfield constituency. He retired from parliament at the next general election in 1922
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
.
Other interests
He was a justice of the peaceJustice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for Middlesex for over 50 years, and chairman of the Edmonton Petty Sessional Division for 21 years. He was appointed High Sheriff of Middlesex
High Sheriff of Middlesex
This is a list of High Sheriffs of Middlesex.-History of the office:From c.1131–1889 there was no separate sheriff for the county. By a charter of Henry I the livery of the City of London were given the right to elect two sheriffs of "London and Middlesex" on a payment of £300 per annum to...
for 1928. In 1936 he retired from the bench.
Bowles was an early motoring enthusiast, and was the first president of the Middlesex County Automobile Club
Middlesex County Automobile Club
The Middlesex County Automobile Club is a motor club based in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.-Formation:The club has its origins in early 1905, and the club records show that a small group of young businessmen and professionals met at The Fox Hotel, Palmers Green, north London, and decided to form a...
retaining the position from 1905 until his death. He was a long serving member of the Court of the Goldsmiths' Company
Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company, which has origins in the twelfth century, received a Royal Charter in 1327. It ranks fifth in the order of precedence of Livery Companies. Its motto is Justitia Virtutum Regina, Latin for Justice...
.
Baronetcy and family
In July 1926 he was created a baronet, "of Forty Hall, Enfield in the County of Middlesex" for public and political services. He suffered a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
on 13 October 1943, and died on the following day at Enfield War Memorial Hospital aged 84.
His daughter, Wilma Mary Garnault Bowles (d. 1928), married Eustace Parker in 1913. In 1920 Eustace changed his name to Bowles by Royal Licence and his grandson is Andrew Parker Bowles
Andrew Parker Bowles
Brigadier Andrew Henry Parker Bowles OBE is a retired British Army officer. He is the former husband of the Duchess of Cornwall , who is now married to the Prince of Wales....
, former husband of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Sir Henry's wife had predeceased him in 1935, and the baronetcy became extinct upon his death.