Mackenzie Bowell

Common card · No. 374964

Sir Mackenzie Bowell (; December 27, 1823 – December 10, 1917) was the fifth prime minister of Canada, serving from 1894 to 1896. Bowell was born in Rickinghall, Suffolk, England. He and his family moved to Belleville, Upper Canada in 1832. When in his early teens, Bowell was apprenticed to the printing shop of the local newspaper, the Belleville Intelligencer, and some 15 years later, became its owner and proprietor. In 1867, following Confederation, he was elected to the House of Commons for the Conservative Party. Bowell entered cabinet in 1878, and would serve under three prime ministers: John A. Macdonald, John Abbott, and John Thompson. He served variously as Minister of Customs (1878–1892), Minister of Militia and Defence (1892), and Minister of Trade and Commerce (1892–1894). Bowell kept his Commons seat continuously for 25 years, through a period of Liberal Party rule in the 1870s. In 1892, Bowell was appointed to the Senate. He became Leader of the Government in the Senate the...

Read on Wikipedia · Image William James Topley, Public domain