Sir John William Bowen

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(8 May 1876 – 1 April 1965), known as William Bowen, was a British

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Born and educated in

Gowerton Gowerton ( cy, Tregŵyr) is a large village and Community (Wales), community, about 4 miles north west of Swansea city centre, Wales. Gowerton is often known as the gateway to the Gower Peninsula. Gowerton's original name was Ffosfelin. The villa ...

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, Bowen left school aged eleven to work at the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. He soon became an active trade unionist, joining the

Postmen's Federation The Postmen's Federation was a trade union representing postal workers in the United Kingdom. In 1889, a "Postmen's Union" was founded in Clerkenwell by Tom Dredge and John Lincoln Mahon. This dissolved after many of its members were sacked, bu ...

, of which he became chair in 1916."Obituary: Sir William Bowen", ''The Times'', 2 April 1965 He was also active in the Labour Party and stood unsuccessfully for it in Newport, Monmouthshire at the 1918 general election and in several elections subsequently.Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'', vol.3, p.37 In 1919, Bowen moved to London to take up the role of treasurer of the Postmen's Federation. In this post, he was involved in negotiating the merger of various unions to form the

Union of Post Office Workers The Union of Communication Workers (UCW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries. History The union was founded in 1919 as the Union of Post Office Workers (UPW) by the merger ...

, and was elected as its first general secretary. He also served on the General Council of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

and was on the council of

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

for many years, becoming its chairman in 1948.

Bowen stood for election repeatedly in Newport, at a 1922 by-election and the

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

and 1924 general elections, but was never elected. At the 1929 general election, he instead stood in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

and immediately won the seat, but he lost it in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and failed to win it back in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

. Bowen stood down as secretary of the Post Office Workers in 1936, and was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

three years later. In 1940, he was elected to

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

for Wandsworth Central. He lost the seat in 1949, but despite no longer being a member of the council, the Labour group ensured his election as the council's Chair. He served in the position for three years, winning an aldermanic seat in 1951 to remain on the council after his time as chair finished. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the 1953 Coronation Honours List, and remained on the council until 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, John William 1876 births 1965 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1929–1931 Members of London County Council General Secretaries of the Union of Communication Workers Labour Party (UK) councillors Union of Communication Workers-sponsored MPs Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor British postmen Politicians from Swansea