Fonds F0239 - John C.F. Bown fonds

John Campbell Ferrie Bown, 1856-1932, was born in Brantford, Ontario in 1856. He attended the University of Toronto, studied law in Brantford and Toronto, and was admitted to the Bar in 1882. Shortly afterwards, he moved to Winnipeg and worked in the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) legal department. In 1885 he moved to Calgary and practiced law until 1891, when he moved to Edmonton. He married Phoebe Miller in 1889 and they had two children, Emily Rachel Beatrice (Stewart), 1890-?, and Walter John, ca. 1892-1977. John practiced criminal law and was a member of several of Edmonton's pioneer legal firms. In 1907 he was appointed solicitor for the City of Edmonton and created a K.C. He served as a bencher of the Law Society of Alberta and was president of the society from 1928-1933. He was also a member of the Masonic Lodge. In 1930 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta. For further information see John C. F. Bown : The Life and Work of an Early Alberta Lawyer / Brian N. Lester. -- unpublished essay, University of Calgary, 1986; and Louis Knafla's entry, "John Campbell Ferrie Bown", in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography at www.biographi.ca.