Mackenzie Bowell

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Mackenzie Bowell (1889) Sir Mackenzie Bowell Signature.svg

Sir Mackenzie Bowell PC , KCMG (born December 27, 1823 in Rickinghall , England , † December 10, 1917 in Belleville , Ontario ) was a Canadian politician , journalist and printing entrepreneur . He was a member of the Conservative Party and the country's fifth prime minister . His term of office lasted from December 21, 1894 to April 27, 1896.

Work and private life

In 1833 Bowell emigrated with his parents to Belleville , Ontario , where relatives had already settled. There he did an apprenticeship with the local newspaper The Intelligencer . He became a successful printer and editor of this newspaper and took it over in 1848 together with his brother-in-law. In 1859 he was one of the founders of the Canadian press association and was its president in 1865/66.

In 1842 Bowell joined the Orange Order and was its Canadian Grand Master from 1870 to 1878. In 1847 he married Harriet Moore (1829-1884), with whom he had four sons and five daughters. Bowell was a Freemason and was born at St. Lawrence Lodge No. 640 (today: St. Lawrence-Zetland No. 14 ) recorded in ER Montreal. On February 4, 1897, he joined Belleville Lodge No. 123 in Belleville, Ontario.

politics

After not being elected to the Ontario Legislative Assembly in 1863 , Bowell was elected to the House of Commons in September 1867 in the North Hastings constituency . He first caught on to a wider public when, in 1874, as spokesman for the Orange Order , he demanded the expulsion of Louis Riel , the leader of the Red River Rebellion , from the House of Commons. In October 1878 he was appointed Minister of Customs by John Macdonald .

After Macdonald's death, Bowell also took over the Ministry of Railways and Canals for six months in June 1891. From January to November 1892 he was Minister of Defense. In May 1892 he was appointed to the Canadian Senate by John Thompson and at the same time took over the newly created Department of Commerce and Economy. In late 1893 he stayed in Australia for several months of negotiations , which proved so successful that he organized the first trade conference between British colonies, which took place in Ottawa in June 1894 . On December 12, 1894, Prime Minister John Thompson died unexpectedly during a state visit to Great Britain . As senior minister, Bowell took over the post of head of government nine days later.

Barely in office, Bowell had to grapple with government tensions. These concerned the school crisis in Manitoba . In 1890 the government of that province dissolved the Catholic school councils in violation of the Manitoba Act of 1870. Bowell's predecessors had previously searched in vain for a solution to this denominational problem. When Bowell installed a new Catholic school council for the province on January 2, 1896, seven anti-Catholic ministers left the government in protest. Bowell called them "a nest of traitors" and announced on January 8, 1891 that he would soon resign. The renegade ministers returned to government on January 15 after an agreement was reached on Charles Tupper , Canada's High Commissioner in Great Britain, to succeed Bowell. Bowell continued in office until Tupper's return and resigned on April 27th.

Bowell continued to serve in the Senate after his resignation until his death at the age of nearly 94. He continued to work regularly for his newspaper until 1916. At his funeral in Belleville, not a single current or former minister was present, but a delegation from the Orange Order.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ freemasonry.bcy.ca
personal data
SURNAME Bowell, Mackenzie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 27, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH Rickinghall , England
DATE OF DEATH December 10, 1917
Place of death Belleville, Ontario