Chairman of the Brixton Prison Visiting Committee / Sir Vansittart Bowater

Sir (Thomas) Vansittart Bowater (1862–1938), politician and businessman, was Lord Mayor of London, 1913–14, and Conservative M.P. for the City of London, 1924–38. He was Chairman of the Visiting Committee of Brixton Prison in 1918. Bowater was only peripherally involved in the affairs of his family’s successful newsprint business, but he was active in the public life of the City for many years before he was elected Lord Mayor by his fellow aldermen. As the holder of that prestigious but largely honorary office at the outbreak of war, Bowater helped raise a new City of London volunteer regiment and organized emergency aid for Belgian refugees. See Oxford DNB.