Sir Albert Edward Bowen, 1st Baronet (November 1858 – 19 September 1924) was an English businessman who spent much of his life in Argentina.

Early life

Bowen was born in

Hanley, Staffordshire Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the ...

. His family emigrated to Canada when he was a boy and he was educated at

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Career

At the age of twenty-one, he moved to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina, and entered business, rapidly becoming successful and wealthy. In 1895, he returned to England, intending to retire and enjoy his fortune. However, he soon returned to work, joining the board of Wilson, Sons & Co,

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

merchants. He took more directorships, until he sat on the board of eight companies, most of them associated with Argentina, including the

Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway The Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway (BAGS) ( es, Ferrocarril del Sud) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company was founded by Edward Lumb in 1862 ...

and the

Buenos Aires Western Railway The Buenos Aires Western Railway (BAWR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Oeste de Buenos Aires), inaugurated in the city of Buenos Aires on 29 August 1857, was the first railway built in Argentina and the start of the extensive rail network which was ...

. He joined the board of the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway in 1908 and became chairman in 1916, holding the post until his death. He continued to pay periodical visits to Argentina, where his great knowledge of the country and fluency in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

were great assets to his companies. He was attributed with the construction of the Buenos Aires/Chile railway line over the Andes. He was high sheriff of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

in 1910–1911. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served on many government committees. For his many services to his country and to business, Bowen was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

in the 1921

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

Personal life

On 24 April 1884, Bowen married Alice Anita Crowther. They had five children: Winifred Ada Bowen, Gertrude Dorothy Bowen, Evelyn Constance Bowen, Major Sir Edward Crowther Bowen, 2nd Baronet, and Harold Cedric Bowen. Their eldest daughter, Winifred, married

Alexander Cobbe General Sir Alexander Stanhope Cobbe (6 June 1870 – 29 June 1931) was a senior British Indian Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Com ...

, an officer in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. Their second daughter, Gertrude, married the diplomat Sir Kinahan Cornwallis.

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

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'' (f ...

'', 20 September 1924 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Albert 1858 births 1924 deaths People from Hanley, Staffordshire English emigrants to Canada English businesspeople Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Argentine people in rail transport British people in rail transport High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

Footnotes

References