During the General Strike of 1926, Bowman was a food officer and in World War I, he was a distribution officer for the Ministry of Food and a director of transport for the North Midland Division; he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of this service. In 1926 he was also appointed a justice of the peace for Kesteven and three years later was made a magistrate for Stamford. He was a Liberal and chaired the Rutland and Stamford Divisional Liberal Association. Bowman died on 6 November 1940, aged 66.