Son of the Reverend Hugh Fowler, Vicar of Barnwood, Gloucestershire, Fowler was educated at Rugby School and at Jesus College, Oxford.
Fowler's other offices were: Canon of Welton Brinkhall at Lincoln (1887), President of the Headmasters Association (1907), Vice President of the Linnean Society (1906-1907), Member of the Scientific Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society, and Member of the Reading Guardians.