Sydenham Howe (1843 - 1929)

Born 3 Mar 1843 in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Ancestors

Husband of Fanny Westphal (McNab) Howe — married 26 Apr 1870 in Dartmouth, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Descendants

Died 13 Apr 1929 at age 86 in Middleton, Annapolis, Nova Scotia, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Judith Chidlow [send private message] and Walter Howe [send private message]

Biography

Sydenham Howe was born 3 March 1833 in Halifax. He entered the Navy in 1855 and served as Naval Cadet and Midshipman in various ships on North American, West Indies and Mediterranean stations. In 1860, having been invalided from the latter, he spent several months in the hospital in England, and was advised to leave the service and try whether his native air would prove beneficial; he returned to Halifax, and his health being re-established, he entered the civil service of the Province in 1861 and served until 1863 when he retired, owing to a change of government. In 1867 Sydenham was appointed Deputy Treasurer of the Province, which position he resigned to enter the service of the Dominion in 1869 He was private secretary to his father, 1869-1870 and dominion auditor for Nova Scotia in 1870. Sydenham married 26 February 1870 in Dartmouth, Fanny Westphal McNab. ^{[1] [2]} In 1871, Sydenham, Fanny and Phillip W. were residing in Halifax. ^[3] He continued as dominion auditor until that office was abolished in 1887, when he retired on a pension. In 1892 he moved to Middleton, Annapolis Co., N. S., where he was engaged in farming. ^[4] Later he became an agent at the Union Bank in Halifax and Sherbrooke. In 1898 he was transferred to Kentville. ^[5]

The sport of curling was very popular in Nova Scotia and Sydenham was an avid curler. In 1875, Lord Dufferin instituted the Governor General's Prize, one of Canada's coveted curling trophies. Sydenham was skip of the Halifax Curling Club team that went to Ottawa in 1883 to compete for that prize. They lost to the Bluenose Club by 16 shots. Improvement clearly followed that defeat, for in 1886 Sydenham won the Royal Caledonian Curling Club medal for a points competition, setting a new world record when he scored 22 points. ^[6] He repeated that score the next year. Rules for point competition in curling changed in 1888. He was a member of the Nova Scotia Historical Society and served as its recording secretary in the 1890s. ^[7] Sydenham and family lived in Nictaux in 1901 and 1911. ^{[8] [9]} He died 13 April 1929 in Middleton, Nova Scotia and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery there. ^{[10] [11]}

Sources

1. ↑ Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics, Fanny W. McNab - Sydenham Howe marriage registration, book 1815, p. 156, no. 109 (1870)
2. ↑ Terence M. Punch and Allan E. Marble, "The family of John Howe Halifax Loyalist and King's Printer", Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, vol. 6 no. 3 (1976): p. 322
3. ↑ 1871 Census of Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Halifax
4. ↑ Daniel Wait Howe, Howe Genealogies, NEHGS, Boston, 1929, Vol. 2, page 106
5. ↑ Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management description of the Sydenham Howe Fonds in their collection.
6. ↑ History of Curling by John Kerr Electric Scotland
7. ↑ Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, Volumes 4-6, 1885
8. ↑ 1901 Census of Canada, Nova Scotia, Annapolis, Nictau
9. ↑ 1911 Census of Canada, Nova Scotia, Annapolis, Nictaux
10. ↑ Howe family notes held by Dartmouth Heritage Museum, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
11. ↑ Annapolis County GenWeb, cemetery transcription entry for Sydenham Howe/Fanny Westphal McNab.

• Passenger Lists
• The Outlook, Middleton, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, entry for Joseph Howe (1903).
• James Taylor, Curling, the Ancient Scottish Game

Notes

Sydenham was named in honour of Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham who served as Governor General and in 1840 mediated between Lieutenant Governor Sir Colin Campbell and the House of Assembly, eventually resulting in Campbell's replacement by Falkland and responsible government for Nova Scotia.