User:PamD/Stanley Leopold Fowler

Stanley Leopold Fowler (20 May 1923 – 17 July 1992), also known as Leo, was a British born self made millionaire, industrialist and engineer. He began his career as an apprentice in the furnishing trade. During WWII, at the age of 19, he started his own light-medium engineering business in Birmingham. In 1946 he built and established his second engineering company, Lemark Ltd.

Elizabethan Village
During a visit to Australia in 1973, the idea to build a replica of Anne Hathaway's Cottage and Shakespeare's Birthplace in Australia was conceived.

The realisation of Fowler's vision, which he named The Elizabethan Village, was sited in the hills behind the town of Armadale 35 km south of Perth.

Shakespeare's Birthplace Replica
Shakespeare's birthplace was officially opened to the public in November 1977 by the Premier of Western Australia, Sir Charles Court. In an article in The Australian Woman's Daily magazine on 28 November 1977, Leo Fowler was quoted as saying: "I am no English crank, but I have the greatest admiration for the skills of the tradesmen of this period". In July 1979, Leo Fowler won the Sir David Brand award for his outstanding contribution to the development of tourism in Western Australia.