Memorable Manitobans: Richard Spink Bowles (1912-1988)

Richard S. Bowles Click to enlarge

Lawyer, Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba (1965-1970).

Born at Winnipeg on 16 November 1912, son of dentist Manley Bowles (1875-1946) and Florence Mae Spink (1884-1958), grandson of Samuel Spink, he was educated Kelvin High School and the University of Manitoba (BA 1933, LLB 1937). He practiced law from 1937 to 1965, establishing his own law firm in 1940, and being appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1955.

He was the first President of the Winnipeg Home and School Association in 1952, a member of the Winnipeg Board of Parks and Recreation from 1953 to 1957, President of the Manitoba Bar Association (1961) and of the Law Society of Manitoba (1964 to 1965). He served as a member of the Welfare Planning Council and President of the United Way.

He was made a Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He received honorary degrees from the University of Manitoba (1968) and the University of Winnipeg, and he received the Manitoba Centennial Medal from the Manitoba Historical Society (1970), a Good Citizenship Award (1971), a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977), and a Hall of Fame Award from the Red River Valley Historical Society. He returned to private law practice following his term of office as Lieutenant-Governor, serving also as Chancellor of the University of Manitoba from 1974 to 1977.

He died at his Winnipeg home, 928 Wellington Crescent, on 9 July 1988 and was buried in Union Point Cemetery at St. Agathe, Manitoba.

His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

Adams George Archibald, First Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 25, 1968-69 Season

Sources:

“Former Lieutenant-Governor dies at 75 after lengthy illness”, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 July 1988, page 2.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 11 July 1988, page 25.

We thank Susan Bracken for providing additional information used here.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 18 December 2012

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