Alexander Dowie (4 September 1827 – 18 July 1909) was an 1851 emigrant from
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
to
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. He is known as a businessman, who developed a major footwear manufacturing, tannery, and retailer in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
.
Early life and education
Alexander Dowie was born in 1828 as the third son of John Dowie (26 November 1800 – c. 1832) and his wife Margaret (born 1 August 1802). His family included a younger brother, John Murray Dowie. His father and sister died when Alexander was around four years old. Later the boy lived in
Portobello, Scotland
Portobello is a coastal suburb of Edinburgh in eastern central Scotland. It lies 3 miles (5 km) east of the city centre, facing the Firth of Forth, between the suburbs of Joppa and Craigentinny. Although historically it was a town in i ...
, where he was apprenticed to learn the trade of bootmaker.
Marriage and emigration to South Australia
In April 1851 Dowie married Jane Cockburn (c. 1831 – 28 October 1910) and they emigrated to South Australia on the ''Blundell'' in May that year, partly sponsored by
Caroline Chisholm
Caroline Chisholm (born Caroline Jones; 30 May 1808 – 25 March 1877) was a 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her support of immigrant female and family welfare in Australia. She is commemorated on 16 May in the calendar of s ...
. They arrived at
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
in August. He joined the gold rush to
Mount Alexander
Mount Alexander is a mountain located approximately 125 km north-west of Melbourne, near the town of Harcourt. It rises 350 metres above the surrounding area to a level of 744 metres above sea level. Being a prominent local landmark, ...
, but soon returned to Adelaide, opening a bootmaker's shop and factory ("South Australian Boot Factory") in
Rundle Street
Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes ...
. He had his businesses in buildings at the far end of the street, then moved closer to the center, at numbers 69 and then 63. He also opened a
tannery
Tanning may refer to:
*Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather
*Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin
**Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun
**Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...
in
Bowden Bowden may refer to:
Places Australia
* Bowden Island, one of the Family Islands in Queensland
* Bowden, South Australia, northwestern suburb of Adelaide
* Bowden railway station
Canada
* Bowden, Alberta, town in central Alberta
England
* Bowde ...
.
In 1904 Dowie transferred his business to sons Norman and (Charles) Stuart; they sold it to A. W. Barlow and Co. in 1908.
His brother John Murray Dowie had followed him from Scotland to South Australia, immigrating there in 1860. His son
John Alexander Dowie
John Alexander Dowie (25 May 18479 March 1907) was a Scottish-Australian minister known as an evangelist and faith healer. He began his career as a conventional minister in South Australia. After becoming an evangelist and faith healer, he im ...
worked for a time in his uncle's bootmaking business. After studying theology in Edinburgh, the younger John A. Dowie returned to Australia and started serving as a minister. He married Dowie's daughter Jane. They had a family. After serving as a conventional minister, JA Dowie built a huge following for his
faith healing
Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...
ministry. He immigrated with his family in 1888 to
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
in the United States. By 1893 he settled in Chicago (in time for the
World's Fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
that year). After building his faith healing business, in 1901 he bought land and founded
Zion City in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, about 40 miles north of the city. He owned all the property.
Alexander was a friend of
John Darling, and influenced him to also emigrate to South Australia. They continued to associate: Darling hired at least one of the Dowie boys, the two families worshipped at the same church, and two Darling boys married daughters of Dowie.
Dowie was appointed President of the Board of Conciliation, serving from 1885 to 1896.
[
]
Religion
He joined the Congregational Church before he left Scotland, and was active in the Adelaide church as Sunday-school teacher, lay preacher, and deacon.[
]
Family
Alexander Dowie died 18 July 1909. His wife, Jane Dowie, died 28 October 1910
*John Alexander Dowie (died 9 April 1888) married Jessie Blair Crawford (1862–1921). She was a sister of R. H. Crawford.[Hugh Archibald Crawford (c. 1824 – 6 October 1881), his son Robert Hugh Crawford (c. 1854 – 18 October 1930) and his son Hugh John (c. 1883 – 21 March 1943) owned Adelaide's major grocery, in Hindley Street then King William Street from 1852 to 1933, when they were bought out by S. O. Beilby]) on 12 April 1883
*Jessie Dowie (1852 – 23 November 1915) married John Darling, jun. (1852–1914) on 14 October 1875.
*Jane Dowie (9 May 1854 – 11 March 1936 in Zion City, Ill.) married her cousin Rev. John Alexander Dowie
John Alexander Dowie (25 May 18479 March 1907) was a Scottish-Australian minister known as an evangelist and faith healer. He began his career as a conventional minister in South Australia. After becoming an evangelist and faith healer, he im ...
("Elijah" to his followers) on 26 May 1876. As "Overseer Jane Dowie" she held high office in his church.
*Margaret "Maggie" Dowie (1856 – 1920) married Arthur Faulkner Gardiner (died 20 April 1936) (son of Robert Gardiner) on 28 May 1875
*Mary Dowie (21 September 1860 – ) married S Stevenson in Chicago, Ill. on 25 July 1900
*Bessie Dowie (24 September 1862 – c. 1890) married James Darling on 26 October 1882; moved to "Glenarona", Kilmore, Victoria
Kilmore () is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. Located north of Melbourne, it is the oldest inland town in Victoria by the combination of age and physical occupation, and because it had unique agricultural attributes to drive that e ...
*Adelaide Dowie (4 December 1864 – 12 July 1892)
*George Cockburn Dowie (18 October 1867 – 16 November 1886)
*Norman Dowie (27 July 1870 – 14 September 1947) worked in father's business
*(Charles) Stuart Dowie (10 April 1874 – 17 November 1937) worked in his father's business. He married Gertrude Phillis (Phyllis?) Davey on 21 December 1910. A son was the famous sculptor John Dowie.
His brother John Murray Dowie (c. 1826 – c. October 1908) emigrated c. 1861 aboard ''Shah Jehan''; active Hindmarsh Square Congregational Church, left for Chicago 1896
*Andrew Dowie ( – 16 March 1919) educated at AEI, married Honor Ann Uren ( – 1917) in 1876
*John Alexander Dowie
John Alexander Dowie (25 May 18479 March 1907) was a Scottish-Australian minister known as an evangelist and faith healer. He began his career as a conventional minister in South Australia. After becoming an evangelist and faith healer, he im ...
"Elijah Dowie" married his cousin, Jane Dowie (9 May 1854 – 11 March 1936) on 26 May 1876. Not to be confused with his identically named cousin (above).
:*Gladstone Dowie (1877–1945)
:*Jeanie Dowie (1879–1885)
:*Esther Dowie (1881–1902).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowie, Alexander
1827 births
1909 deaths
Companies based in Adelaide
19th-century Australian businesspeople