A great grandfather had been a Lord Mayor of Chester. Was this true? So begins a venture of discovery. In the 18th and 19th centuries the family exerted an enormously beneficial influence on the commercial, the civic and the spiritual life within the city of Chester. In a highly dramatic fashion Mayor Henry's conversion to Methodism results in later family members becoming key figures in the growth of the Methodist Church, both in Cheshire and nationally. One generation was influential in India. Another took part in a British Empire campaign in Abyssinia. Original 19th century letters, diary notes, notebooks, sketch-books and photographs bring life to the story. Then, suddenly, all the Bowers family members appear to have left Chester. Where have all the Bowers gone? Finding the 20th century descendants and learning their stories proves equally fascinating reading as this remarkably influential family spreads the limbs of its family tree over the whole of the United Kingdom, and beyond.