Memorable Manitobans: Frank Oliver Fowler (1861-1945)

Grain dealer, MLA (1896-1899), MLA (1900-1903), Mayor of Winnipeg (1922).

Born in Wingham, Ontario on 14 December 1861, brother of Alexander Fowler. After his education in the public and high schools, he worked in a saw mill until, at the age of 20, he came west and farmed near Brandon for 11 years. In 1891 he started a grain business at Wawanes. He served as Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Oakland from 1892 to 1894. He moved to Winnipeg in 1902, where he was appointed Secretary-Treasurer of the North West Grain Dealers’ Association and Manager of the Winnipeg Grain and Produce Clearing Association.

He served in civic politics, first as a Winnipeg City Alderman starting in 1908. In 1918 he introduced a motion denying all civic employees the right to strike, which narrowly passed Council by a vote of nine to eight. On 26 May 1919 he co-introduced a motion prohibiting firemen from belonging to any union affiliated with an organization that could give it commands contradictory to Council’s orders. It passed by a vote of nine to five. He was later Mayor of Winnipeg, elected by acclamation in 1922. During his term in office, the city’s hydroelectric system was built and the Greater Winnipeg Water District was organized.

He and wife Elizabeth Nichol Henderson (1867-1923) had five children: Frank Scott Fowler (b 1888), Helen A. Fowler (b 1889, wife of John S. Macarthur), Harold A. Fowler (b 1891), Raymond Fowler (1894-1930), and Frances Fowler (wife of J. J. Carter). A close associate of Clifford Sifton and John W. Dafoe, he was a founding member, in 1905, of the St. Charles Country Club.

Fowler died on 18 February 1945 and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery. He is commemorated by Fowler Street in Winnipeg.

Sources:

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.

“Funeral of Mrs. Fowler will be held today”, Manitoba Free Press, 13 February 1923, page 13.

“Ex-Mayor of Winnipeg dies”, Winnipeg Free Press, 19 February 1945, page 1.

Ramsay Cook (editor), The Dafoe-Sifton Correspondence, 1919-1927. The Manitoba Record Society, 1966.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by J. M. Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

This profile is based, in part, on information compiled by historian Harry Shave.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 6 May 2012

A collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text: Custom Search Browse surnames beginning with: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z Send corrections and additions to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.ca Suggest a Memorable Manitoban  |  Sources  |  Acknowledgements Support the MHS and