Jack Bowdler

John Charles Henry Bowdler also known as Jack Bowdler and sometimes as Charlie (1870 – 18 July 1927) was a Welsh footballer. He was part of the Wales national football team between 1890 and 1894, playing 5 matches and scoring 3 goals. He played his first match on 8 February 1890 against Ireland and his last match on 12 March 1894 against England.[2]

Charlie Bowdler
Personal information
Full name John Charles Henry Bowdler[1]
Date of birth December 1868[1]
Place of birth Shrewsbury, England[1]
Date of death 1927 (aged 58–59)[1]
Playing position(s) Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1885–1890 Shrewsbury Town
1890–1892 Wolverhampton Wanderers 24 (3)
1892–1893 Blackburn Rovers 22 (5)
1893 Shrewsbury Town
Total 46 (8)
National team
1890–1894 Wales 5 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He played at club level for Shrewsbury Town, of which he was a founder player, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers prior to beginning his practice as a solicitor.

Personal and professional life

Bowdler was born in 1870,[3] son of John Charles Bowdler, a Shrewsbury solicitor. Harry Ernest Bowdler, also known as Ernie, another Wales football international, was his brother.[4]

He was educated at Shrewsbury School, which he attended from 1884 to 1888.[3] He was admitted a solicitor in 1895, after serving articles under John Hawley Edwards, a former England and Wales international footballer, and another solicitor in Shrewsbury.[4] He practiced in the town lifelong, with office in Swan Hill.[5]

Bowdler was a Freemason, initiated into the Salopian Lodge of Charity in 1899.[4]

From 1901 to his death he sat as a Conservative member for Belle Vue ward on Shrewsbury Borough Council, and was Conservative agent for the Shrewsbury constituency under its then MPs Sir Clement Lloyd Hill and George Butler Lloyd.[4] During the First World War he served as a corporal in the Shropshire Regiment of the Volunteer Training Corps.[3]

He married in 1901 Agnes, daughter of Benjamin Timmis, farmer, of Westbury, Shropshire and had three sons and a daughter. He died from heart failure at his home, Oakfield House in South Hermitage, Belle Vue, Shrewsbury on 18 July 1927 aged 56 and was buried on 20 July at Shrewsbury General Cemetery in Longden Road.[4]

Football career

He was described in his obituary as 'a speedy winger and a deadly shot in goal'.[4] Bowdler was in the Shrewsbury School's school football XI from 1885 to 1888, being team captain in the latter year.[6] It was while at school he and his brother became players at Shrewsbury Town in 1886.[7] He later served on the committee of the club as secretary and chairman and once maintained the club for a whole month at his own expense during the early 1900s.[8]

Bowdler later joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom he played in the FA Cup ties of the seasons of 1889-90 to semi-final when Wolves were beaten 1-0 by Cup winners Blackburn Rovers,[4] 1890-91, and 1891-92. He transferred to Blackburn Rovers with whom he played in the FA Cup competitions of 1892-93 to semi-final when Rovers were ironically beaten 1-0 by Wolves,[4] and 1893-94.[3] Both clubs, unlike Shrewsbury Town in his lifetime, were in the Football League. He gave up playing with Rovers on beginning his legal practice in 1895.[4]

Other sports interests

Bowdler participated in Shrewsbury School athletics and was Senior Whip of the "Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt", in fact the school's cross-country running club, also known as 'the harriers', in 1888.[9] He also played crown green bowls as a member of the Shrewsbury Severnside Bowling Club (founded 1895) and took part in a number of inter-county matches.[4]

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See also

References
  1. Jack Bowdler at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  2. "Wales player database 1872 to 2013". eu-football.info. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  3. Auden, J.E. (editor) (1927). Shrewsbury School Registers Volume I, 1798-1908. Wilding and Company, Shrewsbury. p. 284.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. "Death of Mr J.C.H. Bowdler. Popular Shrewsbury Solicitor. Welsh International Footballer". Shrewsbury Chronicle. 22 July 1927. p. 7.
  5. Kelly's Directory of Shropshire, 1917. Kelly's. p. 236.
  6. Shrewsbury School Registers, Volume I, 1798-1908. pp. 284, 500–501.
  7. Jones, Mike (2004). Breathe On 'Em, Salop! The Official History of Shrewsbury Town Football Club 1886-2004. Shrewsbury Sporting Services. p. 7. ISBN 0-9548099-1-2.
  8. Breathe On 'Em, Salop!. p. 13.
  9. Shrewsbury School Registers, Volume I, 1798-1908. pp. 306, 489.

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