Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Bowlen, J. J.
Bowlen, J.J.
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
John James Bowlen, 1876-1959, was born in Cardigan, Prince Edward Island. He and his brother, Maurice Edward Bowlen, born in Kings, Prince Edward Island, moved to Boston, Massachusetts, USA in 1891 where John worked as a stablehand and street railway conductor. Both men fought in the Spanish American War. In 1900 John married Caroline Suive, 1875-1956, of Boston and they had three children, J.J. Jr., Mary (Mooney), and Alice Marguerite (Sandgathe), 1909-1998. Maurice, a carpenter, became an American citizen in 1893 and moved to California where he worked as an inspector and later a deputy sheriff.
In 1902 John started a farm in Manitoba; and in 1906 a homestead at Humboldt, Saskatchewan, where he also dealt in horses. He and his family moved to Rosebud Creek, Alberta in 1917 and built the 9-Ranch, a horse ranch, bought the Q Ranch near Medicine Hat, and later established a sheep ranch near Brooks. He also purchased extensive farmland. He began his political career in 1914, as the federal Liberal candidate for North Battleford. He was defeated in the 1917 election. In 1930 he was elected to the Alberta Legislature as Liberal member for Calgary. He was re-elected in 1935 and 1940 and served two terms as House leader. He was defeated in 1944 when he ran as an independent Citizen's Slate candidate. He was appointed to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation board of governors in 1947 and named Lieutenant-Governor in 1950. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta in 1952 and was named an honorary Blackfoot Chief. He was active in many organizations including membership on the City of Calgary Library Board, 1946-1948.
For further information see The Vice-Regal Cowboy : Life and Times of Alberta's J.J. Bowlen / Anthony Walcott Cashman. - Edmonton : Institute of Applied Art, 1957, and "The Honourable John James Bowlen, 1950-1959" in On Behalf of the Crown : Lieutenant Governors of the North West Territories and Alberta, 1869-2005 / Sandra E. Perry and Karen L. Powell. - Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 2006, p. 462-489.