John George Bowes (ca. 1812 – May 20, 1864) was a railway promoter and politician in the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

. He was also a member of the

Orange Order in Canada The Grand Orange Lodge of British America, more commonly known as the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada or simply Orange Order in Canada, is the Canadian branch of the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organization that began in County Armagh in Ire ...

. He was born in

Clones, County Monaghan Clones ( ; , meaning 'meadow of Eois') is a small town in western County Monaghan, Ireland. The area is part of the Border Region, earmarked for economic development by the Irish Government due to its currently below-average economic situation ...

, Ireland around 1812 and came to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

in 1833. He worked for his brother-in-law in

York, Upper Canada York was a town and second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for th ...

(later

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

), then opened a dry goods business with another brother-in-law in 1838. He was president of the Toronto and Guelph Railway and also served on the board of directors of several other companies. In 1850, he was elected to city council and council selected him as mayor in 1851, 1852 and 1853. His mayoralty of Toronto was clouded by claims of corruption. In 1853

George Taylor Denison II Colonel George Taylor Denison II (July 17, 1816 – May 30, 1873) was a Canadian lawyer and military officer. Life and career He was a scion of what would later be called the Family Compact, the closely associated group of insiders in Upper Canad ...

, and several other alderman, resigned mid-term to protest what they described as Bowes corruption. Bowes and

Francis Hincks Sir Francis Hincks, (December 14, 1807 – August 18, 1885) was a Canadian businessman, politician, and British colonial administrator. An immigrant from Ireland, he was the Co-Premier of the Province of Canada (1851–1854), Governor of Barb ...

had benefitted from a bailout of the

Toronto, Simcoe & Lake Huron Union Railroad The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a p ...

(later the Northern Railway. Hincks, in his capacity as the Province of Canada's Inspector General (effectively Finance Minister), had sponsored legislation to issue bonds to pay back the railway's investors, without revealing that he and Bowes had bought out a large block of the stock, at a discounted value. The pair netted a quick gain of 10,000 pounds - a fortune in those days. Although he was cleared of any charges, Bowes was forced to pay the profit that he had made to the city. In 1854, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper C ...

representing Toronto. He was elected to city council again in 1856 and served as mayor from 1861 to 1863. He died in Toronto in 1864.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowes, John George 1812 births 1864 deaths Canadian Methodists Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Mayors of Toronto Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Politicians from County Monaghan Year of birth uncertain Immigrants to Upper Canada