Mackenzie Bowell
Encyclopedia
Sir Mackenzie Bowell, PC, KCMG (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.
, 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 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.
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
.)
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 to 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.
. 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.
by the Governor General
during Bowell's tenure:
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
from December 21, 1894 to April 27, 1896.
Early life
Bowell was born in RickinghallRickinghall
Rickinghall is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The village is split between two parishes, Rickinghall Inferior and Rickinghall Superior, which join with Botesdale to make a single built-up area....
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to John Bowell and Elizabeth Marshall. In 1832 his family emigrated thence to Belleville
Belleville, Ontario
Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County, but is politically independent of it. and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, where he apprenticed with the printer at the town newspaper, The Belleville Intelligencer
Belleville Intelligencer
The Intelligencer is the daily newspaper of Belleville, Ontario, Canada...
. He became a successful printer and editor with that newspaper, and later its owner. He was a Freemason but also an outstanding Orangeman
Orange Institution
The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...
, becoming Grandmaster of the Orange Order of British North America, 1870–1878. In 1847 he married Harriet Moore
Harriet Moore
Harriet Moore , is formally known as Lady Bowell, the Spouse of the Prime Minister of Canada and wife of Mackenzie Bowell, the fifth Prime Minister of Canada. They had 9 children together....
(1829–1884), with whom he had four sons and five daughters.
Early political life
Bowell was first elected to the House of CommonsCanadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
in 1867, as a Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
, 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
Pacific Scandal
The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving allegations of bribes being accepted by the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract...
. Later that year he was instrumental in having Louis Riel
Louis Riel
Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....
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
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1893 led to the first conference of British colonies and territories, held in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
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 AbbottJohn Abbott
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, PC, KCMG, QC was the third Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the office for seventeen months, from June 16, 1891 to November 24, 1892. - Life and work :...
.)
As Prime Minister, Bowell faced the troublesome Manitoba Schools Question
Manitoba Schools Question
The Manitoba Schools Question was a political crisis in the Canadian Province of Manitoba that occurred late in the 19th century, involving publicly funded separate schools for Roman Catholics and Protestants...
. In 1890 Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
had abolished public funding of its Catholic schools, contrary to the provisions made for Catholics in the Manitoba Act
Manitoba Act
The Manitoba Act, originally titled An Act to amend and continue the Act 32 and 33 Victoria, chapter 3; and to establish and provide for the Government of the Province of Manitoba, is an act of the Parliament of Canada that is defined by the Constitution Act, 1982 as forming a part of the...
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 to normal when six of the ministers were reinstated, but leadership was thenceforth effectively held by Charles Tupper
Charles Tupper
Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, GCMG, CB, PC was a Canadian father of Confederation: as the Premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. He later went on to serve as the sixth Prime Minister of Canada, sworn in to office on May 1, 1896, seven days after...
, who had joined Cabinet at the same time, filling the seventh place. Tupper, who had been Canadian High Commissioner
High Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, 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 CemeteryBelleville Cemetery
Belleville Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Canadian city of Belleville, Ontario, incorporated in 1872. It is most notable for being the burial place of Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell and author Susanna Moodie. The cemetery covers and is located along the north shore of the Bay of...
. 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
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England and Ontario, Canada.
In their 1999 study of the Canadian Prime Ministers up through Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
, J. L. Granatstein
Jack Granatstein
Jack Lawrence Granatstein, OC, FRSC is a Canadian historian who specializes in political and military history.-Education:Born in Toronto, Ontario, Granatstein received a graduation diploma from Le College militaire royal de Saint-Jean in 1959, his BA from the Royal Military College of Canada in...
and Norman Hillmer
Norman Hillmer
George Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....
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 CanadaSupreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
by the Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
during Bowell's tenure:
- Désiré GirouardDésiré GirouardDésiré Girouard was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.Born in Saint-Timothée, Lower Canada , the son of Jérémie Girouard and Hyppolite Picard, he received his Bachelor of Common Law from McGill University in 1860...
(September 28, 1895 – March 22, 1911)
External links
- J. L. GranatsteinJack GranatsteinJack Lawrence Granatstein, OC, FRSC is a Canadian historian who specializes in political and military history.-Education:Born in Toronto, Ontario, Granatstein received a graduation diploma from Le College militaire royal de Saint-Jean in 1959, his BA from the Royal Military College of Canada in...
and Norman HillmerNorman HillmerGeorge Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....
, Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders, Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., a Phyllis Bruce Book, 1999. pp. 42-44. ISBN 0-00-200027-X.