William Leslie Bowles


William Leslie Bowles was an Australian sculptor and medallist.

Education

He started at Kangaroo Point State School, Brisbane. After studying at the Brisbane Technical College Leslie Bowles won 1910 a scholarship for studies in Great Britain. There he met other sculptors like Sir Bertram Mackennal, and he was a student at the Royal Academy.

Life

Bowles was a soldier in the First World War. He lived in England until his marriage with Mary Lees of Kelso in 1924. Australia. Then they lived in Prahran, Melbourne. He was survived by his wife.

Work

He started work in Mackennal's studio. After the war he worked and exhibited in England. Later in the Twenties in Australia, William Leslie Bowles was employed at Melbourne Exhibition Building on the Australian War Memorial. In 1926 he had become a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. He became mainly connected with the design of large monuments, nevertheless he was also invited to design Australian coins and medals.
Bowles designed the sculpture of Sir John Monash which stands at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. He designed several sculptures at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, including the Man with the donkey. He designed the memorial for the 9th Battalion in the crypt of Brisbane's Anzac Square. Bowles designed decorative bronze window panels for the Queensland Commonwealth Bank Building in Queen Street, Brisbane with his work depicting the trinity images of Industry, Agriculture and Commerce. He designed sculptures of "Diana and her hounds" and others for Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne in 1935. He designed the King George V memorial in Melbourne. He designed engravings for Australian banknotes released in 1953.