William Richard Gowers
Mayor of Oxford 1954/5
William Richard Gowers (1910–1985) was the grandson of the neurologist Sir William Richard Gowers.
After studying at Clare College, Cambridge, Gowers became a solicitor, and was eventually senior partner in the Oxford firm of Herbert & Gowers.
During the Second World War, Gowers served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.
Gowers was elected to the Council in 1946, and was made an Alderman in 1952. He was elected Mayor in 1954, and to mark the 600th anniversary of St Scholastica's Day which fell during his mayoralty he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by the University (and in return the Vice-Chancellor A.H. Smith received the freedom of the city).
Gowers retired from the Council in 1956. He joined the Board of Governors of the United Oxford Hospitals, which later became the Area Health Authority, and in 1973 he became Chairman of that Authority. He was awarded the CBE in 1976. His home was at Aston Tirrold.
Gowers died at the age of 74 in January 1985. He left one son and one daughter.
See also:
- Oxford Mail, 32 December 1976, p. 3 (awarded CBE)
- Oxford Times, 25 January 1985, p. 2 (obituary)
- Oxford Mail, 22 January 1985, p. 7 (obituary)