William Fowler (1828-1905)
William Fowler (1828-1905) MP, chairman of John Fowler and Co, Leeds
1828 Born in Melksham son of John Fowler
School in Melksham
1845 Entered University College, London.
1849 BA with honours in classics and mathematics.
1850 he graduated LLB and became a fellow of the college. He then joined the chambers of Hugh Cairns and became an equity draftsman and conveyancer.
1852 he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple.
1855 he married Rachel Maria, daughter of Robert Howard of Ackworth in Yorkshire, a manufacturing chemist. Her mother was one of the Birmingham Lloyd family. They had four sons and four daughters before she died in 1868.
1856 he joined Cunliffe Alexander & Co. of Lombard Street
1864 Following the death of his brother John, "father of the steam plough", William became a junior partner with his younger, unmarried brother Barnard Fowler in the manufacturing business founded by John in Leeds. Their elder brother Robert Fowler was senior partner.
1868 Fowler entered parliament as Liberal member of Cambridge
1871 he married Elizabeth Fox, daughter of Francis Tuckett of Frenchay, near Bristol. She died later the same year.
1874 Defeated in Cambridge
1875 he married Rachel, née Pease, widow of Charles Albert Leatham of York and daughter of Joseph Pease MP. Her younger sister Elizabeth Lucy Pease was the wife of William's brother John.
1877 On his retirement from Alexander & Co., William Fowler was appointed a director of the National Discount Co and various other City institutions.
1886 When John Fowler and Co was incorporated, the three brothers, together with their nephew Robert Henry Fowler (1851–1919), became directors.
1888 William became chairman of the company. He took little part in the day-to-day management of the company, but regularly attended board meetings and social events such as the foreman's annual dinner. His last appearance was at the company's seventeenth annual general meeting, held in Lombard Street in December 1903.
1905 Died in Folkestone, Kent.
See Also
Sources of Information
- Biography of William Fowler, ODNB