Fonds F584 - Mackenzie Bowell fonds

Mackenzie Bowell was born on December 7, 1823, at Suffolk, England. he came to Canada with his parents in 1832 and became a printer's apprentice in the office of the Belleville Intelligencer, a newspaper of which he was later to become the editor and proprietor. In 1847 he married Harriet Louisa Moore of Belleville.

Early in his life Bowell joined the Orange Order and served as Grand Master of the Orange Lodge of Ontario and as Grand Master of the Orange Association of British America. In 1867 he was elected to the House of Commons and served as Conservative representative for the Riding of North Hasting until 1892. Appointed Minister of Customs in 1878 by Sir John A. Macdonald, Bowell was largely responsible for putting the "National Policy" into operation. Early in 1892 he was appointed Minister of Militia and Defence and later the same year became Minister of Trade and Commerce, a position he held until 1894. In 1894, following the death of Sir John Thompson, Bowell was sworn in as Prime Minister, only to resign in early 1896 after several members of his cabinet also resigned. He remained Opposition Leader in the senate until his retirement in 1907. He died at Belleville on december 10, 1917.