View source for Mackenzie Bowell

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Canada from 1894 to 1896}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[The Honourable]]<!--His correct prefix is "The Honourable", NOT "The Right Honourable"; see explanation on Talk page-->
| name                = Sir Mackenzie Bowell
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|KCMG|size=100%}}
| image               = SirMackenzieBowell.jpg
| caption             = Bowell in 1891
| order1              = 5th
| office1             = Prime Minister of Canada
| term_start1         = December 21, 1894
| term_end1           = April 27, 1896
| monarch1            = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| governor_general1   = [[John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair|The Earl of Aberdeen]]
| predecessor1        = [[John Sparrow David Thompson|John Thompson]]
| successor1          = [[Charles Tupper]]
| office2             = [[Senate of Canada|Canadian Senator]] from [[Ontario]]
| term_start2         = December 1892
| term_end2           = December 10, 1917
| appointed2          = [[John Sparrow David Thompson]]
| riding3             = [[Hastings North]]
| parliament3         = Canadian
| term_start3         = September 20, 1867
| term_end3           = December 1892
| predecessor3        = ''Riding established''
| successor3          = [[Alexander Augustus Williamson Carscallen]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1823|12|27|mf=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Rickinghall]], Suffolk, England
| death_date          = {{nowrap|{{death date and age |1917|12|10|1823|12|27}} }}
| death_place         = [[Belleville, Ontario]], Canada
| restingplace        = [[Belleville Cemetery]], Belleville, Ontario, Canada
| nationality         = Canadian
| party               = [[Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)|Conservative]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Harriet Bowell|1847|1884|end=died}}
| children            = 9
| signature           = Sir Mackenzie Bowell Signature.svg
<!--Military service-->| nickname            = 
| allegiance          = [[Province of Canada]]<br />[[Canada|Dominion of Canada]]
| branch              = [[Canadian militia]] (1861-1872)
| serviceyears        = 1861–1872
| rank                = [[Lieutenant-Colonel]]
| unit                = [[Belleville Volunteer Militia Rifle Company]]<br />[[The Argyll Light Infantry]]<br />[[49th Hastings Battalion]]
| commands            = 
| battles             = [[Fenian Raids]]
| awards              = [[Order of St Michael and St George]]<br />[[Canadian General Service Medal]]<br />[[Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration]]
}}

'''Sir Mackenzie Bowell''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|oʊ|.|əl}}; December 27, 1823&nbsp;– 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, Ontario|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.

[[1867 Canadian federal election|In 1867]], following [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]], he was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] for the [[Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)|Conservative Party]]. Bowell entered [[Cabinet of Canada|cabinet]] in 1878, and would serve under three prime ministers: [[John A. Macdonald]], [[John Abbott]], and [[John Sparrow David Thompson|John Thompson]]. He served variously as [[Minister of Customs]] (1878–1892), [[Minister of Militia and Defence (Canada)|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 of Canada|Senate]]. He became [[Leader of the Government in the Senate (Canada)|Leader of the Government in the Senate]] the following year.

In December 1894, Prime Minister Thompson unexpectedly died in office. The [[John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair|Earl of Aberdeen]], Canada's [[Governor General of Canada|governor general]], appointed Bowell to replace Thompson as prime minister, due to his status as the most senior cabinet member. The main problem of Bowell's tenure as prime minister was the [[Manitoba Schools Question]]. His attempts at compromise alienated members of his own party, and following a Cabinet revolt in early 1896 he was forced to resign in favour of [[Charles Tupper]]. Bowell stayed on as a senator until his death at the age of 93, but never again held ministerial office; he served continuously as a [[Canadians|Canadian]] parliamentarian for 50 years.

==Early life, career, and family==
[[File:Hastings County Archives HC01484 (21522809091).jpg|thumb|Bowell in 1874]]

Bowell was born in [[Rickinghall]], England, to John Bowell and Elizabeth Marshall. In 1832 his family emigrated to [[Belleville, Ontario|Belleville]], [[Upper Canada]], 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]]<ref>[http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/famous.html A few famous freemasons<!-- bot-generated title -->] at freemasonry.bcy.ca</ref> and an [[Orange Institution|Orangeman]], serving as grandmaster of the Orange Order of British North America, 1870–1878. 
In 1847 he married Harriet Moore, with whom he had five sons and four daughters.

==Military service==
[[File:Ensign Mackenzie Bowell, Belleville Rifles.jpg|thumb|left|Mackenzie Bowell, Ensign in the Belleville Rifles]]
A keen supporter of the [[Canadian Militia|militia]] in Hastings County, he was appointed an [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]] in the [[1st Belleville Militia]] on July 24, 1856. He helped organize the [[Belleville Volunteer Militia Rifle Company]] in 1857 with whom he served on active duty at [[Amherstburg]], Upper Canada, during the [[Trent Affair]]. He joined the 15th Belleville Battalion ([[The Argyll Light Infantry]]) in 1863, and served on active duty as an Ensign in No. 6 Company, 1st (Western) Administrative Battalion, on the Niagara Frontier from December 1864 to July 1865.<ref name="Blatherwick">{{cite web|last1=Blatherwick|first1=John|title=PRIME MINISTERS OF CANADA THEIR MILITARY CONNECTIONS, HONOURS and MEDALS |url=https://www.blatherwick.net/documents/Prime%20Ministers%20of%20Canada/40%20-%20Prime%20Ministers%20of%20Canada%20Military.pdf|website=National Defence Historical Department|access-date= 4 April 2023|language=en}}</ref>

On March 23, 1866, he was promoted to Captain in command of [[Argyll Light Infantry#15th Belleville Battalion Volunteer Militia (16 January 1863)|No. 1 Company, 15th Battalion]]<ref name="Blatherwick"/> and fought in the [[Fenian Raids]] of 1866, serving at Prescott and being awarded the [[Canada General Service Medal]]. He was promoted to Major in the [[49th (Hastings) Battalion of Rifles]] on February 22, 1867, and qualified for the First Class Certificate at the Military School of Instruction on March 1. He was promoted to Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel on February 22, 1872, and retired from the militia on March 24, 1874, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in that regiment.<ref>{{cite web|last1=WAITE|first1=P.B.|title=Sir Mackenzie Bowell|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bowell_mackenzie_14E.html|website= 	Dictionary of Canadian Biography|access-date= 10 February 2022|language=en}}</ref>
 
[[File:Mackenzie Bowell w medals.jpg|thumb|]]

==Elected to Parliament==

Bowell was first elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] in 1867 as a [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative]] for the riding of [[Hastings North]], 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.

==Appointed to Cabinet, Senator==
In 1878, with the Conservatives again governing, he joined the Cabinet as minister of customs. In 1892 he became minister of militia and defence, having held his Commons seat continuously for 25 years. A competent, hardworking administrator, Bowell remained in Cabinet as minister of trade and commerce, a newly created portfolio, after he became a senator that same year. His visit to [[Australia]] in 1893 led to the first leaders' conference of [[British colonies]] and territories, held in [[Ottawa]] in 1894. He became [[Leader of the Government in the Senate (Canada)|leader of the government in the Senate]] on October 31, 1893.

==Prime minister (1894–1896)==
In December 1894, Prime Minister [[John Sparrow David 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 (after [[John Abbott]]) to hold that office while serving in the Senate rather than the House of Commons.

===Manitoba Schools Question===
As Prime Minister, Bowell faced the [[Manitoba Schools Question]]. In 1890, [[Manitoba]] had abolished public funding for denominational schools, both [[Roman Catholicism|Catholic]] and [[Protestant]], which many thought was contrary to the provisions made for denominational schools in the ''[[Manitoba Act]]'' of 1870. However, in a court challenge, the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] held that Manitoba's abolition of public funding for denominational schools was consistent with the ''Manitoba Act'' provision.<ref>City of Winnipeg v. Barrett; City of Winnipeg v. Logan, [1892] A.C. 445 (P.C.).</ref> In a second court case, the Judicial Committee held that the federal Parliament had the authority to enact remedial legislation to force Manitoba to re-establish the funding.<ref>''Brophy v. Attorney General of Manitoba'', [1895] A.C. 202 (P.C.).</ref>

===Leadership crisis===
Bowell and his predecessors struggled to solve this problem, which divided the country 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 postponed it due to opposition within his Cabinet. With the ordinary business of government at a standstill, several members of Cabinet decided that Bowell was incompetent to lead. To force him to step down, seven ministers resigned and then foiled the appointment of successors. Bowell denounced them as "a nest of traitors".

===Resignation===
Bowell was forced to resign as prime minister. After ten days, following 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 then 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 and death==
[[File:Mackenzie Bowell gravestone in Belleville.jpg|thumb|Bowell's grave stone|alt=Red granite pillar inscribed with names]]

Bowell stayed in the Senate, serving as his party's leader there until 1906, and afterward as a regular Senator until his death in 1917, having served continuously for more than 50 years as a federal parliamentarian.

He died of [[pneumonia]] in Belleville, seventeen days short of his 94th birthday. He was buried in the [[Belleville cemetery]].<ref name=DictBioCan>{{cite DCB |first=P. B. |last=Waite |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bowell_mackenzie_14E.html |title=BOWELL, Sir MACKENZIE |volume=14 | access-date=March 2, 2014}}</ref><ref name=Parks_Grave>{{cite web | url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/clmhc-hsmbc/Sepulture-gravesiteindx/listesepulture-listgravesite/bowell.aspx | title=Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada - Former Prime Ministers and Their Grave Sites - The Honourable Sir Mackenzie Bowell | author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | date=December 20, 2010 | website=Parks Canada | publisher=Government of Canada | access-date=March 2, 2014 | archive-date=October 19, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019031256/http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/clmhc-hsmbc/Sepulture-gravesiteindx/listesepulture-listgravesite/bowell.aspx | url-status=dead }}</ref> His funeral was attended by a full complement of the Orange Order, but not by any currently or formerly elected member of the government.<ref>''The Globe and Mail'', Dec. 29, 2017, "The accidental prime minister" (article), by Patrick White, p. A17</ref>

==Legacy==
Bowell was designated a National Historic Person in 1945, on the advice of the national Historic Sites and Monuments Board.<ref>[http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1180 Sir MacKenzie Bowell National Historic Person], Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, no date</ref>

The [[Canada Post|Post Office Department]] honored Bowell with a commemorative stamp in 1954, part of a series on prime ministers.

In their 1998 study of the Canadian prime ministers up through [[Jean Chrétien]], [[Jack Granatstein|J.&nbsp;L. Granatstein]] and [[Norman Hillmer]] found that a survey of Canadian historians ranked Bowell #19 out of the 20 Prime Ministers up until then.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Hillmer, Norman|author2=Granatstein, J. L.|name-list-style=amp|title=Historians rank the BEST AND WORST Canadian Prime Ministers|url=http://www.ggower.com/dief/text/maclean2.shtml|work=Diefenbaker Web|publisher=Maclean's|access-date=March 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010719220419/http://www.ggower.com/dief/text/maclean2.shtml|archive-date=July 19, 2001|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Until 2017, Bowell remained the only Canadian prime minister without a full-length biography of his life and career. This shortfall was solved when the Belleville historian [[Betsy Dewar Boyce]]'s book ''The Accidental Prime Minister'' was published by [[Bancroft, Ontario]] publisher Kirby Books. The book was published on the centennial of Bowell's death. Boyce had died in 2007, having unsuccessfully sought a publisher for her work for a decade.<ref>''The Globe and Mail'', Dec. 29, 2017, "The accidental prime minister" (article), by Patrick White, p. A17.</ref>

==Supreme Court appointments==
The following jurist was appointed to the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] by the [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] during Bowell's tenure:
* [[Désiré Girouard]] (September 28, 1895 – March 22, 1911)

==See also==
{{Portal|Canada|Politics}}
* [[List of prime ministers of Canada]]

== Archives ==
There is a Sir Mackenzie Bowell [[fonds]] at [[Library and Archives Canada]]. It includes 6.1 m of textual records.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Finding aid to Sir Mackenzie Bowell fonds, Library and Archives Canada|url=https://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000001632.pdf|access-date=September 21, 2020}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
''The Accidental Prime Minister'', by [[Betsy Dewar Boyce]], 2017, Kirby Publishing, [[Bancroft, Ontario]], {{ISBN|978-1-926529-09-7}}.

* Waite, P. B. '' Canada 1874–1896: Arduous destiny.'' (1996), Scholarly study of national history. [https://archive.org/details/canada18741896ar0000wait_v4v1 online]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Mackenzie Bowell}}
* {{Canadabio|ID=7231}}
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=15613}}
* [[Jack Granatstein|J. L. Granatstein]] and [[Norman Hillmer]], ''Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders'', Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., a Phyllis Bruce Book, 1999. pp.&nbsp;42–44. {{ISBN|0-00-200027-X}}.
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Bowell, Sir Mackenzie}}
*[http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/large.php?accessnumber=II-60499.1&Lang=1&imageID=180330 Photograph:Hon. Mackenzie Bowell, 1881] - McCord Museum

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowell, Mackenzie}}
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