Marriage of Bill Bowler and Phyllis Charman 15th April 1939 Church Menu Page

The Bride and Groom outside St. James Church

Bill Bowler recalls his young days in Husborne Crawley:

"I was born at 12 Husborne Crawley in 1908. My mother's name was Caroline (nee Witlock) and she came from Woburn Sands. My father, Fredrick Bowler, was born in Crawley. He worked for the Estate for close on 50 years. First he was up at Woburn Abbey, then haymaking, and then he worked as a forester. After I left school I got a job working for the Estate on the nursery that used to be in Crawley. They used to grow trees from seed. During the First World War, the Woburn Sands woods were all big trees but the Canadians came and cut down every one. After the war, the new woods were planted with just these little seedlings. There were 4 of us boys and 4 men. The men would cut a row with their spades and we would just drop them in and the men would tread them in. The majority of those trees you see now were grown in Crawley.

After that I got a job up at Crawley House working for Mr Viccars. He needed a chauffeur and so he taught me how to drive. I learnt in a Bullnose Morris made in about 1920 and a Model T Ford. I stayed working with him until he moved away, he wanted me to go with him but I was courting Phyllis then and I was afraid I would lose my girl, so I never went". I kept on working as a chauffeur after that. I ended up working for Sibley's Taxi's for 45 years.

Crawley Park

Bill Bowler with Ted Sibley who founded Sibley's taxi's