Mackenzie Bowell
| The Honourable Sir Mackenzie Bowell |
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| In office December 21, 1894 – April 27, 1896 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Preceded by | Sir John Thompson |
| Succeeded by | Sir Charles Tupper |
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| Born | December 27, 1823 Rickinghall, England |
| Died | December 10, 1917 (aged 93) Belleville, Ontario |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Harriet Moore |
| Children | 9 |
| Alma mater | None (no post-secondary schooling) |
| Occupation | Newspaperman: printer, editor and, later, owner |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Signature |  |
Sir Mackenzie Bowell, PC, KCMG (pronounced /ˈboʊ.əl/; December 27, 1823 – December 10, 1917) was a Canadian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Canada from December 21, 1894 to April 27, 1896.
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Biography
Early life
Bowell was born in Rickinghall, Suffolk, England to John Bowell and Elizabeth Marshall. In 1832 his family emigrated thence to Belleville, Ontario, where he apprenticed with the printer at the town newspaper, The Belleville Intelligencer. He became a successful printer and editor with that newspaper, and later its owner. He was a Freemason[1] but also an outstanding Orangeman, becoming Grandmaster of the Orange Order of British North America, 1870–1878. In 1847 he married Harriet Moore (1829–1884), with whom he had four sons and five daughters.
Early Political Life
Bowell was first elected to the House of Commons in 1867, as a Conservative, for the riding of North Hastings, Ontario. He held his seat for the Conservatives when they lost the election of January 1874, in the wake of the Pacific Scandal. Later that year he was instrumental in having Louis Riel expelled from the House. In 1878, with the Conservatives again governing, he joined the cabinet as Minister of Customs. In 1892 he became Minister of Militia and Defence. A competent, hardworking administrator, Bowell remained in Cabinet as Minister of Trade and Commerce, a newly made portfolio, after he became a Senator that same year. His visit to Australia in 1893 led to the first conference of British colonies and territories, held in Ottawa in 1894. He became Leader of the Government in the Senate on October 31, 1893
Prime Minister (1894 - 1896)
In December 1894, Prime Minister Sir John Thompson died suddenly and Bowell, as the most senior Cabinet minister, was appointed in Thompson's stead by the Governor General. Bowell thus became the second of just two Canadian Prime Ministers to hold that office while serving in the Senate rather than the House of Commons. (The first was John Abbott.)
As Prime Minister, Bowell faced the troublesome Manitoba Schools Question. In 1890 Manitoba had abolished public funding of its Catholic schools, contrary to the provisions made for Catholics in the Manitoba Act of 1870. Bowell and his predecessors had struggled to solve this problem. The issue had divided the country, the government, and even Bowell's own Cabinet. He was further hampered in his handling of the issue by his own indecisiveness on it, and by his inability, as a Senator, to take part in debates in the House of Commons. Bowell backed legislation, already drafted, that would have forced Manitoba to restore its Catholic schools, but then postsponed it due to opposition within his Cabinet. With the ordinary business of government at a standstill, Bowell's Cabinet decided he was incompetent to lead and so, to force him to step down, seven ministers resigned, then foiled the appointment of successors. Though Bowell denounced them as "a nest of traitors," he had to agree to resign. After ten days, through an intervention on Bowell's behalf by the Governor General, the government crisis was resolved and matters seemingly returned normal when six of the ministers were reinstated, but leadership was thenceforth effectively held by Charles Tupper, who had joined Cabinet at the same time, filling the seventh place. Tupper, who had been Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, had been recalled by the plotters to replace Bowell. Bowell formally resigned in favour of Tupper at the end of the parliamentary session.
Later life
Bowell stayed on in the Senate, serving as his party's leader there until 1906, and afterward as a plain Senator until his death. He died of pneumonia in Belleville, only days short of turning 94, and was buried in the Belleville Cemetery. His funeral was attended by a full complement of the Orange Order, but not by any currently or formerly elected member of the government.
Bowell's descendants live in Hertfordshire, England and Ontario, Canada.
In their 1999 study of the Canadian Prime Ministers up through Jean Chrétien, J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer found that a survey of Canadian historians ranked Bowell #19 out of the 20 Prime Ministers up until then.
Supreme Court appointments
The following jurist was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada by the Governor General during Bowell's tenure:
- Désiré Girouard (September 28, 1895 – March 22, 1911)
Notes
- ↑ A few famous freemasons at freemasonry.bcy.ca
External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Political Biography from the Library of Parliament
- J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer, Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders Toronto: HarperCollinsPublishersLtd., A Phyllis Bruce Book, 1999. P.42-44. ISBN 0-00-200027-X.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Bowell, Sir Mackenzie". Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Isaac Burpee |
Minister of Customs 1878 – 1892 |
Succeeded by Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau |
| Preceded by vacant |
Minister of Railways and Canals 1891 – 1892 |
Succeeded by John Graham Haggart |
| Preceded by Adolphe-Philippe Caron |
Minister of Militia and Defence 1892 |
Succeeded by James Colebrooke Patterson |
| Preceded by office created |
Minister of Trade and Commerce 1892-1894 |
Succeeded by William Bullock Ives |
| Preceded by John Abbott |
Leader of the Government in the Senate of Canada 1893 – 1896 |
Succeeded by Oliver Mowat |
| Preceded by John Thompson |
Prime Minister of Canada 1894–1896 |
Succeeded by Charles Tupper |
| Leader of the Conservative Party 1894–1896 |
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| Preceded by William Bullock Ives |
President of the Privy Council 1894 – 1896 |
Succeeded by Auguste Réal Angers |
| Preceded by Arthur Rupert Dickey |
Minister of Militia and Defence 1896 |
Succeeded by Alphonse Desjardins |
| Preceded by George Foster |
Minister of Finance and Receiver General 1896 |
Succeeded by George Foster |
| Preceded by Sir Richard W. Scott |
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada 1896 – 1906 |
Succeeded by Sir James A. Lougheed |
| Parliament of Canada | ||
| Preceded by None |
Member of Parliament from Hastings North 1867 – 1892 |
Succeeded by Alexander A.W. Carscallen |
| Preceded by John Carling |
Senator from Hastings 1892 – 1917 |
Succeeded by Robert Mulholland |
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