William Bowley

William Reginald Bowley was born in Kensington, London, on 4th August 1892. His father was an ironmonger but when Bowley left school, he became a motor engineer by trade. Any spare time he had in his youth was spent frequenting the Holland Park rink which had opened its doors to the public in December 1909.

In 1911 the Aldwych rink closed down and the Aldwych club relocated to the Empress Rink at Earl’s Court in time for the 1912 season. This, however, was short lived and after just one month they needed to relocate again. This time it was to the Holland Park rink where the club would stay for the next 16 years, although they kept the name Aldwych despite their new home.

We first see Bowley’s foray into speed skating in April 1912, and a registered member of the Aldwych club, although it is possible he had taken part in events prior to that. Over the next twelve months he features in one or two race reports but with no significant success in terms of results. Then on 15th March 1913, the One Mile British Championship was held on Holland Park and surprisingly, not least of all to Bowley himself, he won. It wasn’t a straightforward affair but regardless, he would walk away with the victory and the Benetfink Cup at his first time of asking.

The event had no fewer than twenty-one entrants, however, the previous winner, Sid Cole (Alexandra Palace) and the hour record holder Hubert Delahaye (Aldwych) both withdrew due to illness. More than two thousand spectators packed into the rink to witness the final on the huge nine laps to the mile (around 180 metres) circuit.

Five skaters qualified for the final – Bowley (Aldwych), Clarkson, (Aldwych), Carter (Aldwych), Cox (Aldwych) and Stuart (Wandsworth). With just two laps to go Clarkson and Carter fell whilst leading. In the ensuing mele Bowley broke clear and beat Cox to the line by some seven yards in a time of 3 minutes and 7.2 seconds.

Whilst Bowley may well have been fortunate in his victory he entered the Five Mile Championship a few weeks later on 12th April, again on Holland Park. This time Bowley could only secure a bronze medal. Still, in hist first attempt at British Championships gold and a bronze medals were nothing to be sniffed at, especially as at that time there were only two titles to contend in any one year.

Bowley was in his element and decided to compete further afield. On 12th May 1913 he and his Aldwych club mates took part in an inter-club competition at the Wellington Gardens open air rink in Great Yarmouth. Bowley would manage a third place in the one mile handicap which would go towards helping his team to overall victory.

By now Bowley was working as an engine fitter for the famous automobile manufacturer D. Napier & Son at their factory in Acton. On 2nd February 1914 he and a few others put together a team known as “Napier” and set about racing the well known Wandsworth club at their Central Hall rink on East Hill. Bowley was, of course, the lead skater in the Napier team but could only manage a couple of third places behind some good Wandsworth skaters who had the home rink advantage.

A few weeks later on the 14th February the National Skating Association (NSA) had set up a half mile scratch event at Holland Park with the sole purpose of establishing a new Half Mile British Record. There were thirty-seven entries for the event and after the heats had played out the Aldwych team, not unexpectedly, made up six of the seven finalists. The finalists were Aldwych skaters Bowley, Clarkson (holder of the Five Mile Championship), Cox, Thomson, Colley and Clay (Lava), preventing a clean sweep for the local club. At the final sprint Bowley just pipped Clarkson to the line by mere inches to set up a new Half Mile British, and indeed World Record of 1 minute 31.6 seconds.

Around this time, it is noted that Bowley also set a new British record for an unpaced one mile with a time of 3 minutes 2.2 seconds. No report of when or where that record was set can be found, although one suspects Holland Park was the venue. We know that by the time he came to defend his British One Mile title on 28th February 1914 he was already recognised as the One Mile British Record holder.

Bowley again made the final of the One Mile Championship but there was to be no repeat of his exploits from twelve months earlier. He did, however, manage to come away with a bronze medal.

On April 13th, towards the end of the 1914 season he again found himself racing on the outdoor rink at Wellington Gardens in Great Yarmouth securing yet another bronze medal, this time in the three mile Corporation Challenge Cup event. Despite some unrest in Europe nobody foresaw the events that would soon unfold with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28th June. With frightening ferocity, the world entered a bloody conflict which would bring any thoughts of speed skating competitions to a grinding halt.

Whilst we do not know what Bowley did in the First World War we do know that on 18th September 1915 he married Grace Williams, a Welsh woman by birth whose father was a swimming instructor. Unlike some of his fellow speed skaters Bowley survived the conflict. Despite the war ending in November 1918 racing did not resume in earnest until 1920.

On 23rd February 1921 the One Mile British Championship was held for the first time since 1914 and again the venue was Holland Park. Bowley, still only twenty-eight years old, entered the race as did some of the pre-war stalwarts like Cole and Thomson. However, although official racing had ceased for almost seven years now, it hadn’t stopped new blood appearing. One such talent was Tom Wilson (Catford) and Bowley would come up against him in his heat. Wilson beat Bowley to progress to the final and Bowley had to make do with watching from the other side of the barriers this time. Over the next few weeks Wilson would add the Five Mile Championship and the One Mile Southern Counties Championship to his list of titles as well as steer his Catford club to be the inaugural winners of the Burgoyne Shield before it became an official British Relay Championship.

Throughout the rest of the season Bowley sporadically entered events but continued to train with the Aldwych club. Then on 9th December 1921 Harry Lee (Norbury) won the Half Mile Southern Counties Championship coming home in a time of 1 minute 31.2 seconds, lowering Bowley’s record by 4/10ths of a second.

Undaunted, Bowley continued to race and was still seen on the circuit as a decent skater, even if his performances were not now top draw. That said, on 11th February 1922, Bowley once again made the final of the One Mile British Championship. Although he would fail to get on the podium, his making the final of seven skaters from an entry of some forty-six was still worthy of note. The final was an elite affair consisting of Tom Wilson (Catford), Harry Lee (Norbury), Alf Symondson (Cricklewood), Otto Lerwill (Aldwych), Harold Stedeford (Catford) and an up and coming star, Joe Weatherburn (Ealing) as well as Bowley himself of course. As the race unfolded Lerwill hit the front with two laps remaining and just managed to stave off Wilson in a close finish to take his first title.

By now Bowley would have been wondering if his best years were behind him. Then, in October 1922 the NSA received an invite to send a British team to Paris, France, to take part in an amateur international competition. The event was to be a 25 kilometre relay race consisting of three skaters from each nation, namely France, Belgium, Romania and Great Britain. This is how the invite was discussed/minuted at the meeting of the Roller Committee on 18th October:

The Roller Committee unanimously officially accepted the invitation of the French skating assocn. to send a team to represent Great Britain in a 25 kilo team race in Paris on Nov. 3. 1922 between teams representing Great Britain, France, Belgium and Roumania [sic], also the French assocn. offer to defray the expenses (3rd class rail & boat & hotel expenses) of the English team.

The Roller Committee unanimously endorsed the recommendation of a grant of £10, proposed by Mr. Prescott (Hon. Sec. & Treasurer) to the speed secretary. Hon. Sec. to defray the expenses of a representative of the Roller Committee to travel with the English team. Mr. V. C. Thomson, the Speed Hon. Secretary was unanimously elected representative to the N.S.A. to travel with the team.

The Roller Committee unanimously elected Mr. T. J. Wilson captain of the English team subject to his acceptance.

Messrs. V. C. Thomson, C. Meggs and T. J. Wilson were unanimously elected a sub-committee to select the team with full powers to carry out any matter in connection with this event.

It was unanimously decided by the Roller Committee that it was desirable that the team should wear a badge and cap, the selection of which was left to the sub-committee.

It being considered necessary by the Roller Committee that a trainer should be sent with the team, and failing a grant by the Council for a trainer’s expenses, the Roller Committee accepted with hearty thanks the offer of Mr. V. C. Thomson to start a subscription list with that object.

When the team was finally selected Bowley was one of the three names that would go to Paris and represent Great Britain in what was believed to be the first ever official amateur international competition between nations. The others were Otto Lerwill and, of course, Tom Wilson as Team Captain.

The race was eventually held on 10th November 1922 and Britain would finish second to Romania. The full story is that a coming together of the Belgian and French skaters also bought down Wilson near the end of the race. This left the Romanians to open up an unassailable lead with the French and Belgian teams both getting disqualified.

Immediately after the event Bowley was involved in an incident with his team-mate Lerwill. It was reported that Lerwill had used abusive language towards Bowley which resulted in a reprimand for Lerwill and an apology to the Roller Committee for his conduct. It is not clear whether it was Bowley who complained about Lerwill’s conduct, or whether it was someone else who witnessed the affair, but either way the matter was soon put to bed. Not least of all because ‘back home’ Lerwill and Bowley were also Aldwych team-mates.

On 8th February 1923 Bowley again enters the One Mile Championship at Holland Park. This time he is beaten in his heat by Harry Lee who would go on to take bronze in the final. This is the last record we have of William Bowley and his skating exploits and it is believed that he may well have called it a day very soon afterwards.

Less than a week later on 14th February a group of skaters took to the Holland Park rink with the sole aim of lowering Bowley’s one mile unpaced record. Those skaters included the stars of the day Tom Wilson, Alf Symondson, Harry Lee, Joe Weatherburn and Frank Knowles who would take Bowley’s place when the next international came around. Despite their best efforts all tried and failed in their attempt leaving Bowley’s record intact. In fact, it would not be broken until 1928 when Charlie Bush and Joe Weatherburn returned a time of 3 minutes and 1 second when they dead heated for a one mile handicap event at Brixton, both starting from scratch.

Bowley’s decision to hang up his boots may well have been influenced not only by his own dwindling performances but also by the changing of the times. The Aldwych club was in a period of transition. It was starting to take an interest in ice skating and when the Holland Park rink closed its doors in February 1928, it was another nail in the coffin for the Aldwych club. A few years later and the name had all but disappeared from roller speed skating race programmes, although it still lives on today as an ice speed skating club.

William Bowley would eventually move to Wales, influenced most likely by his wife’s family roots. It is here that he would live out the rest of his life, passing away in Swansea on 12th January 1965, aged 72.

Since that very first international competition in November 1922, each senior skater that has represented Great Britain at a major international event has been assigned a number corresponding to their order of ‘call up’. By the sheer nature of the fact that Bowley had the lowest ranked name alphabetically in that very first event means that he is officially recognised as having call up number ‘one’ on the list of British skaters.

Sadly, there are no known photos of William Bowley during his skating days or otherwise. Despite this we should still note that he achieved one world record, two British records, one British Championship and one international call up in his time as a roller speed skater. Those achievements alone are worthy of recognition. Granted, his achievements may not be as numerous as some other British skaters but he has one record that nobody else can ever claim. And that is to be the very first name that appears on the list of male skaters to have represented Great Britain at a major international competition.