Thomas Bowles (1830-1913) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Thomas Bowles

Born 27 Jul 1830 in Chinguacousy, York, Upper Canada

Ancestors

Son of Charles Bowles and Nancy Ann (Barrie) Bowles

Brother of Eliza (Bowles) Wilson, John Bowles and George Bowles

Husband of Jane (Lester) Bowles — married about 1855 in Canada West

Descendants

Father of Charles Wesley Bowles, Isaac Robert Bowles, Elizabeth Bertha (Bowles) McCartney, Martha Jane (Bowles) Green, Thomas Edgar Bowles, Anne Sarah (Bowles) Pearson and William Herbert Bowles

Died 9 Aug 1913 at age 83 in Orangeville, Dufferin, Ontario, Canada

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Biography

Thomas owned part of Lot 31 Chinguacousy East. He started as a farmer and grain merchant at Mono Road before moving to Orangeville in 1883 as the first Sheriff of Dufferin County (Sheriff from 1883-1913). He was also a Director of the Credit Valley Railroad, as well as a councilman (1863-67) and elected Reeve of Chinguacousy Township for ten consecutive terms.^[1]

Thomas' grandson Lester Pearson would go on to be Prime Minister of Canada. In his memoirs, Pearson would reminisce about his grandfather:
"He was a provincial Liberal candidate twice, and a federal candidate once; and, although defeated each time by his Tory opponent, it was never by more than one hundred votes. His services, ability, and character were recognized when the Premier of Ontario in 1881 appointed him as first sheriff of the new Dufferin County. When in impressive uniform donned for some judicial decision, cocked hat and all, he was occasionally driven in his carriage from the solid Victorian, red-brick house in Orangeville, he then appeared to his grandson as on the very summit of official dignity and position, an impression strengthened by his stately manner and austere bearing. The frailties of old age never removed the feeling of awe that he inspired in me. The only one in his family to desert the farm for other activities, business and politics, he was a highly regarded figure in Dufferin and Peel Counties for many years. Along with his two brothers, both remarkable men in their own ways, he had learned much with little formal education. He was a Methodist local preacher, a pillar of that church and of the Liberal party. When he died..., the Toronto Globe, which to the Bowles clan ranked only below the Bible as the source of all truth and wisdom, wrote that 'he was a man of fine presence and splendid physical and mental qualities; of the most unimpeachable integrity and recognized rectitude and of a most obliging disposition'."^[2]

His nephew, Rev. Richard Pinch Bowles would remember him:
" Thomas Bowles (Sheriff of Dufferin County) in one respect diverged radically from his brothers, John and George,in that he alone took to public life. He began life depending on his farm for his living but soon extended himself into other realms. He drew up agreements of sale and deeds and wills. He valued properties for mortgage companies. He was executor for estates and in many ways his house became his office as well as his residence. He ran in many a hot, vigorous, political fight for Reeve; and was indeed, for fifteen years, Reeve of Chinguacousy Township, and I know not how many times Warden of Peel County. He ran three times for Member of Parliament, being defeated each time. He launched out into financial enterprises and was a Director of an unfortunate fire insurance company, the illegality of which left him with his name, along with other Directors, to a note for ten thousand dollars in the bank. To meet this liability he made himself grain buyer at the newly opened Mono Road Station. In this he was eminently successful and in a few years discharged his bank indebtedness.
He differed from his brothers also in that he had a love for the new and more liberal way of cultured and refined living. No one would take him for a farmer, for his everyday attire was that of a city gentleman. He drove a spanking fine team of carriage horses when Uncle John and my father were quite happy if the plow horse drove single and took his place with demur in the buggy shafts. He mowed the lawn around his house. If my father had the first self‑binder, Uncle Thomas had the first croquet lawn. If my father preached many sermons, Uncle Thomas preached a few and played checkers. With such worldly amusements George and John would have nothing to do and, although I never heard them say so, I am sure they thought Thomas too worldly. Later in life, however, they both followed in the steps of Thomas. The influence of the changing times and the mellowing of years had their effect on both of them."^[3]

In 1911, Thomas and his wife were living with their daughter Jennie Green and her family in Orangeville.^[4]

Occupation: Reeve of Chinguacousy, Sheriff of Dufferin County.

Sources

↑ George Bowles Family Tree, by Tom Laporte.
↑ Mike, The Memoirs of the Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson, Volume I 1897-1948, University of Toronto Press, 1972, pp. 1-2.
↑ The Tipperary Bowles, by Richard Pinch Bowles.
↑ 1911 Census of Canada, 21 - Orangeville, part, Dufferin, Ontario; Page: 2; Family No: 28.