Sir Harold Bowden, 2nd Baronet (9 July 1880 – 24 August 1960) was the chairman and chief executive of the

Raleigh Bicycle Company The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a British bicycle manufacturer based in Nottingham, England and founded by Woodhead and Angois in 1885. Using Raleigh as their brand name, it is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. After being acquir ...

and

Sturmey-Archer Sturmey-Archer was a manufacturing company originally from Nottingham, England. It primarily produced bicycle hub gears, brakes and a great many other sundry bicycle components, most prominently during its heyday as a subsidiary of the Raleigh ...

Ltd from his father's death in 1921 until his own retirement in 1938. He also served as President of the British Cycle and Motor-Cycle Manufacturers and Trader Union, President of the Motor and Cycle Trades Benevolent Fund, and Chairman of the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

for the 1932 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. His achievements were celebrated in 1938 when ''

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is the world's oldest cycling publication. It is both a weekly cycling magazine and a news, features and buying advice website. It is published by Future plc, Future. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club c ...

'' awarded him his own page in the '' Golden Book of Cycling'', which is now held in 'The Pedal Club' archive.

Personal life

Sir Harold was the son of international business tycoon Sir Frank Bowden, 1st Baronet and Amelia Frances Houston, daughter of Colonel Alexander Houston of California. Born in San Francisco, U.S., the fifth of six children, he had four older sisters and a younger brother. He was educated at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

, Bristol, and at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

. Harold variously lived at 'Beeston Fields' manor house, Beeston, 'Ruddington Grange' and 'South Manor House' at Ruddington. Harold was a keen cyclist and oarsman, and a member of the Pickwick Bicycle Club, founded in 1870. It is now self-proclaimed as the 'oldest surviving bicycle club in the world' although now predominantly a luncheon club. On 11 May 1916 he purchased a new Brough motorcycle, registration AL 4659. It was a 500cc model 'H', which he sold on 22 February 1919. Harold Bowden married four times. He married Vera Whitaker, daughter of Joseph Whitaker of

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

, on 7 July 1908, and they had two children, Frank Houston Bowden and Ruth Bowden before they divorced in 1919. He was married to his second wife Muriel Smythe Ker-Douglas, daughter of William Ker-Douglas, from 18 January 1920 until her death in 1952. He married thirdly, June Bowden MacKay, daughter of Thomas Henry MacKay, on 4 November 1952. He married his fourth wife, Valerie Raymont Came, daughter of Richard Raymont Came, on 11 February 1957. Sir Harold succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1921 and eight years later he was created a Knight Grand Cross, Order of the British Empire (G.B.E.). He was decorated with the award of Grand Cross, Order of the Phoenix of Greece. He died in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, England after a short illness.

Career

Raleigh Bicycles

Sir Frank Bowden founded the

in 1887 in Nottingham, and Harold became chairman and managing director on the death of his father in 1921, a position he then held for 17 years. He was also chairman of Sturmey-Archer Gears Ltd which had been taken over by his father in 1902. Under Harold's leadership Raleigh continued to lead the industry, introduced many further innovations and acquired other well-known cycle companies such as:

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

(1932), Rudge-Whitworth, BSA and Triumph. Raleigh also manufactured motorcycles and the ''Safety Seven'' car from 1932 to 1937. By his retirement in 1938 production was 60,000 cycles per year from a works site that occupied 20 acres.

Service appointments

He was elected as President of the British Cycle & Motor Cycle Manufacturers' & Trader' Union on two occasions, holding office from 1921 to 1923. He was President of the Motor and Cycle Trades Benevolent Fund from 1924 to 1926 and the 1925 Banquet, attended by the Prince of Wales, raised a record sum of £10,000. In 1929 he was invested as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE). He was appointed to the office of High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1933. He served as vice-president of the Federation of British Industries.

1932 Olympics

From 1930–34 he served as Chairman of the

, raising over £10,000 to take the British team to Los Angeles for the 1932 Summer Olympic Games. He accompanied the team to America for the games. ''The Rotarian'' magazine of October 1932 reports that Bowden was quoted in the ''Los Angeles Times'' saying : The ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' on Friday 10 March 1933 reported that whilst presiding at an Olympic dinner in London, Bowden stated that ... ''whatever may be felt about the shortcomings of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, the progress of international sport should create optimism concerning the League.''

The ''Golden Book''

Sir Harold Bowden's achievements were celebrated in 1938 when ''

'' awarded him his own page in the '' Golden Book of Cycling''.

References

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External links

Raleigh Bikes