Thomas Bower was born in Nantwich, Cheshire, England in 1838 and practised as an architect in Nantwich from the 1850s*. By 1911 he had formed a partnership with Ernest Harcourt Edleston (1880-1964) as Bower & Edleston. Following Bower's death in 1919, Edleston continued the firm with the title unchanged for many years. The practice was subsequently renamed Bower Edleston Architects. It claims to be one of the longest standing architectural practices in the world [2021].
Bower and Edleston shared an office at Bank Chambers, Nantwich, Cheshire. His private address was given as 140–142 Hospital Street in Nantwich in 1881 and 3 Park Road, Nantwich in 1891 and 1911. He died in Nantwich on 21 September 1919.
* Note: although all sources consulted give 1854 as the date when Bower established his practice, he could only have been aged about 16 at the time. His year of birth appears to be correct
St Philip's Church, Kelsall (1860); Lamb Hotel, Hospital Street, Nantwich (1861); Spurstow School, Spurstow (1872); Barclays Bank, 11 Churchyard Side, Nantwich (1876); Free Library [now Nantwich Museum], Nantwich (1888); Town Hall, Sandbach (1889); Vicarage, Narrow Lane, Crewe Green (1889); Remodelling of 148 Hospital Street, Nantwich (1890s); Petton Hall, Petton, Shropshire; Biddulph Grange, Biddulph, Staffordshire (1896); Alterations to Crewe Hall, Crewe Green (1896); and Drinking fountain, Sandbach (1897).
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001