Philip Bowcock died peacefully at his home in Kent on 4th June 2021. He was born at Riverside Farm, Chebsey, Staffordshire, the first of three sons. From an early age he showed an academic bent and loved reading although he also grew very strong physically and helped his father on the farm. He loved being a scout and subsequently led a scout troop on camp at the age of fourteen because the leaders were away serving during the war. At sixteen he was thrilled to gain an open scholarship to St. John’s College Oxford to read history and went up in 1944. Philip thrived at Oxford and joined many societies. He was elected secretary to the Oxford University Conservative Association where he succeeded Margaret Roberts (later Margaret Thatcher). Subsequently Philip chose to broaden his interests by exploring plays and music, as well as the social pleasures of Oxford. He also explored his Christian faith through a discussion group, and this commitment became a lasting and quiet influence throughout his whole life. 

After gaining his history degree and having narrowly missed serving during the war, he was obliged to complete national service and was commissioned as an officer in the 15/19 King’s Royal Hussars. His regiment was stationed in Khartoum, and this taste of travel and the charm of the Arabic speaking world sparked his interest in working for the British government overseas. Whilst in Khartoum he also improved his riding skills, on both horse and camel, and learnt bridge and Scottish dancing, which suggests life wasn’t all hard work.

In 1949 he was appointed to the Sudan Political Service and was sent to the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies (MECAS) in Lebanon to learn Arabic. Although they studied hard, this group of selected civil service and foreign office recruits took time to enjoy the social pleasures of life in the Lebanon at the time. He kept his Arabic skills to his death and loved to converse with junior doctors in Arabic if the opportunity arose. He later added more languages to English, totalling twelve languages altogether (Latin, Greek, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Nuer, Cinyanja, Cibembe, Silozi, Spanish).

In 1951 he started as an Assistant District Commissioner in Khartoum and in 1952-3 was posted to Western Nuer district, Upper Nile Province (now Unity State, South Sudan). During his time in Khartoum his head was turned when he met Brenda Stephens, a midwife in the hospital and they later became engaged. Brenda found a nursing post in Western Nuer district and both fell in love with the charming Nuer people. Not long after arriving in Bentiu, via paddle steamer because the terrain was too swampy for permanent roads, Philip was left in charge of the whole district. He was twenty-four and was responsible for the administration of 14,175 square miles with a minimum population of approximately 170,000 people. By comparison Wales is 8,015 square miles. As he said, we could not have done this without the consent and trust of the people. Philip and Brenda were married in Malakal in 1952 and worked together in Western Nuer until Sudan gained independence in 1954.

Philip then moved in 1955 to work with the British Overseas Civil Service in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) for the next nine years as a District Commissioner in Broken Hill (now Kabwe), and later at Mungwi and Sesheke. He finally ended up as the district magistrate in Choma, having previously taken the 1st part bar examinations. During this time in Northern Rhodesia Stella, Matthew and Oliver were born. Life continued to be very varied with regular trips to meet the local chiefs in remote villages, often only reached after several days on trek via Land Rover or on foot. When Zambia gained independence, Philip chose to return to the UK for the schooling of the children although he would have loved to have stayed on in Africa.

Philip took the Home Civil Service examinations and was offered a place as a Principal in the Ministry of Technology in London.  Although the work was interesting and his colleagues stimulating, he found commuting in London and working for a government department much less satisfying than the independence of his previous posts. When he was offered favourable terms as an Articled Clerk in his uncle’s solicitors’ practice in Leek Staffordshire, he decided to take the plunge and turn to working in the law. This was a challenging time since he had a six month period whilst unemployed and studying for the 2nd part bar exams.

He duly passed his bar examinations at his first attempt, and the family moved to Staffordshire where he flourished and eventually became senior partner in Bowcock and Pursaill. His years as a country solicitor were very happy, and he loved the stimulus of the law whilst working with kind, good hearted people in a family firm. In 1980, he was unexpectedly asked to leave this rural life to return to Africa to supervise the elections that that transitioned Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. He was not ready to retire at age sixty-seven when, sadly, Brenda died leaving him bereft. She had earlier persuaded him that they should move to live near the younger generation before they reached old age, so that the youth would not be burdened with caring for elderly relatives at a distance. He decided to follow her plan and build an annexe on the side of Stella’s house in Otford. Although it was a wrench moving away from the Staffordshire community, this proved a good decision.

He made many deep friendships after moving to Otford where he was adjacent to the family and therefore able to share in the pleasures of grandchildren and later great-grandchildren. When he died, he was still a member of a political discussion group, a history group, a literature group, a regular bridge four, the Sevenoaks chess club as well as U3A (university of the 3rd age), although most were recently curtailed by COVID-19. He was an active member of the Athenaeum club in London, and a visit there was usually accompanied by a visit to an exhibition or the theatre. No time was ever lost in exploring further about history, politics, art or literature. However, science was his Achilles heel, and as for understanding anything about medicine and how his body worked, that was a closed book. This was a source of frustration to his family who would repeatedly explain, for example, that there was a high mortality associated with climbing ladders when aged ninety!

The grandchildren regarded their grandpa as a legend who often had a drink and snack by his side and would hospitably invite any visitor to join him immediately. His thirst for knowledge included enthusiasm for exploring many parts of the world. He did this first with his close friend and aunt by marriage, Sylvia Bowcock, and later with Elizabeth Hagmeier from Victoria, Canada, whom he met on a trip to Oman. She became a close companion of his, ‘together apart’ as they put it. They shared travels, books, gardens, and political discussions over the nineteen years they knew each other.

We are forever grateful that Matthew encouraged Philip to capture his memoirs in his book ‘Last Guardians’ which is still available at Amazon. It is a fascinating story of working in three crown civil services and then the law.

As a farmer’s son he loved his garden and planted over two hundred and fifty trees in various gardens in his lifetime. He was still planting trees in 2020. More than anything, Philip was interested in other people. He remembered not just his friends, but his children’s and in turn his grandchildren’s friends, and he would enjoy meeting them again and recalling what they had told him about themselves. Everyone was of interest and importance to him. He was always kind and scrupulously fair and honest. He is a huge loss to his friends but especially his family.