John Mowlem

[1] He travelled to London in 1807 where he started working for Henry Westmacott, the Government mason and builder, as a general foreman: Mowlem personally worked on Nelson's Tomb in St Paul's Cathedral, Somerset House and the Royal Mews at Charing Cross.

In 1839 Mowlem moved briefly to Guernsey, which was the source of much of the granite used by his business.

By 1845 the two men had joined Mowlem as partners, and the company (aided by Mowlem's purchase and management of Guernsey quarries) had won several large contracts, including the maintenance of the masonry of all government property in the London district.

[3] Once Burt and Freeman had been taken on as partners, Mowlem moved back to Swanage, but maintained an interest in the business as well as acting philanthropically within the town of his birth.

He died in 1868, childless, and the business, which ultimately became known simply as Mowlem passed on to Burt.