Who Was Edwardian Detective Edwin Fowle

Edwin Fowle is the central character in this series of books for good reason as he was a much acclaimed and respected police officer in his time with an exemplary and extraordinary career, but like many of his ilk has been forgotten by history. I have over the last couple of years immersed myself in his life and career which was extraordinary to say the least and I wanted to put on record his exploits in a series of books. He joined the Kent police on the 10 October 1890 and from the beginning was perceived as having a natural aptitude for police work and particularly an ability for investigative work.

His time as a detective spanned the Edwardian era exactly and his total service of 42 years and 3 months spanned the reigns of four monarchs. During his career he experienced great changes in the police with the emergence of motor vehicles, extensive train lines, telephones, radio, major advances in forensic science and innovations in policing methods as well as social transformations and changes in criminal behaviour. He seems to have taken all in his stride managing to adapt to all the new challenges.

He was not a tall man, only five feet nine inches, but broad shouldered and of stout stature with a well-groomed large moustache below a substantial nose. As a detective he was always smartly dressed, always wearing the fashionable derby hat and was described as a driven and religious man with a great sense of duty.

First Detective Inspector

He was appointed one of the first of three detective constables in the history of the force when they had the prescience to establish their detective department on the 1 July 1896. Such was his aptitude for the work that four years later in 1900 he was promoted to First Class Detective Sergeant and put in charge of the tiny unit. Six years later on 1 February 1906 he attained another record by being promoted the first Detective Inspector in the history of the Kent County Constabulary. While a detective between 1900-1911 he collected many commendations and awards including a police merit star and retired in December 1932 with over twenty commendations.

Hated Pickpockets

He was called upon to deal with every known class of crime whether it be murder, fraud, infanticide, robbery, hotel theft, housebreaking or pickpocketing. He was sadly regularly engaged in investigating child murders prevalent in his early years which must have been distressing for him as a religious man. His pet hate were all the pick-pocket gangs that frequented Kent from London which he pursued with a vengeance. One of his attributes was that he never forgot a face. He made a point of knowing them and they soon knew him, some of them to their cost. Such was his fixation that he could recognise all the members of the leading notorious London and Kent pickpocket gangs. Despite this the criminal fraternity had a wary respect for him and referred to him as “The Terrier.”