Edward Ernest Bowen (30 March 1836 – 8 April 1901) was an influential schoolmaster at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

from 1859 until his death, and the author of the Harrow school song, " Forty Years On".

Biography

Edward Bowen was born in Glenmore,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

, Ireland; his elder brother was Charles Bowen, a well-known judge. He was educated at

Blackheath Proprietary School The Blackheath Proprietary School was an educational establishment founded in 1830. In the 19th century, it had a profound influence on the game of football, in both Association and Rugby codes. In 1863, the school became one of the founders of Th ...

and

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King G ...

before entering

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He was appointed an assistant master at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

in 1858, and moved to Harrow in 1859.'Obituary: Mr. E. E. Bowen' in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' (London), issue 36426 dated 11 April 1901, p. 4 As a schoolmaster, Bowen believed that boys must be interested in his lessons and at ease with him. This was in contrast with the grave formality typical of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. He was the founder of the "modern side" at Harrow, which gave prominence to subjects other than

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and Greek. Bowen was also an enthusiastic sportsman and pedestrian. As a Cambridge undergraduate he walked the 90 miles from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 26 hours; at Harrow, he was the first master to identify himself thoroughly with sports and games; and he was involved in the establishment of the English Football Association, also playing in and winning the first

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

in 1872 and winning the trophy again in 1873 with

Wanderers F.C. Wanderers Football Club was an English association football club. It was founded as "Forest Football Club" in 1859 in Leytonstone. In 1864, it changed its name to "Wanderers", a reference to it never having a home stadium, instead playing at v ...

Bowen also played one English County Cricket match for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, in 1864, but was dismissed for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

both times. Bowen is perhaps best remembered as the author of the Harrow school song, " Forty Years On", which is still sung today, and to which an extra verse was later added in honour of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. He also wrote many other

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

songs along with the then Master in Charge of Music, many of which are sung by the school to this day at occasions known as ''songs'' every term. While at Harrow, he was housemaster of The Grove boarding house. He died at

Moux Moux is a commune in the Aude department in southern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas an ...

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or (; literally, "Golden Slope") is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.Cyril Norwood Sir Cyril M. Norwood (15 September 1875 – 13 March 1956) was an English educationalist who served as Headmaster of Bristol Grammar School and Harrow School, Master of Marlborough College, and President of St John's College, Oxford. Biography T ...

said of him that he had "kept the eternal boy alive within his own breast to the very end".Jeffrey Richards, ''Happiest Days: The Public Schools in English Fiction'' (1988), p. 121

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Edward 1836 births 1901 deaths Alumni of King's College London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Association football forwards England v Scotland representative footballers (1870–1872) English cricketers FA Cup Final players Hampshire cricketers Irish association footballers (before 1923) Irish cricketers People educated at Blackheath Proprietary School People from Blessington Schoolteachers from London Wanderers F.C. players