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Sir Frank Bowden, 1st Baronet (30 January 1848 – 25 April 1921) was the founder of the Raleigh Bicycle Company. ==Biography== Frank Bowden was born in Devon and made a fortune in property development in Hong Kong in the 1870s. In 1879, he married Amelia Frances, an American heiress.〔(Personal Capitalism and Corporate Governance: British manufacturing in the First half of the Twentieth Century ), p23, LEWIS, Myrddin John, et al, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7546-5587-9〕 When he returned from Hong Kong he was seriously ill and his doctor gave him six months to live. Bowden took up cycling on his doctor's advice and bought a bicycle from a small shop on Raleigh Street, Nottingham, run by Messrs Woodhead, Angois and Ellis. He was so impressed with his recovering health and the bicycle that in 1887-88 he acquired control of the company, which was then making three bicycles a week.〔 Production rose, and three years later Bowden needed a bigger workshop, which he found in a four-storey building in Russell Street. He changed the company's name to Raleigh Cycles to commemorate the original address. By 1896 it was the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world and occupied seven and a half acres in Faraday Road, Nottingham. He lived at The Ropewalk, Nottingham. He also helped build up Sturmey Archer Gears.〔 He wrote ''Cycling for Health and Points For Cyclists'' in 1913.〔 〕 In 1915 he was created a baronet of the City of Nottingham. He became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Justice of the Peace.〔 cites: 〕 In his later years he lived at Thame Park, Oxfordshire, a 100-room mansion which had been a Cistercian monastery before the Reformation.〔(Daily Telegraph. 11 Dec 2001. Sir Frank Bowden, Bt - Obituary )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sir Frank Bowden, 1st Baronet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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