George William Howlan (May 19, 1835 – May 11, 1901) was an Irish-born merchant, ship owner and political figure in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. He represented

1st Prince 1st Prince was an electoral district in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which elected two members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1873 to 1993. The district comprised the westernmost portion of Prince Cou ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island () together with the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island form the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The Legislative Assembly meets at ...

from 1863 to 1873 as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

member. He represented Alberton division in the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

from 1873 to 1894 and was the province's sixth

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

from 1894 to 1899. He was born in

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

and came to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

with his parents in the late 1830s. They settled in Prince Edward Island in 1839. Howlan was educated in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

and was hired as a clerk in a store there in 1850. He moved to Cascumpec (later Alberton), first working for a

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

merchant there and then setting up his own business. In 1866, he married Elizabeth Olson. Howlan was named to the Executive Council in 1867, serving until 1873. However, in 1870, he threw his support behind the Conservatives after Protestants in the Liberal caucus refused to support

separate school In Canada, a separate school is a type of school that has constitutional status in three provinces (Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan) and statutory status in the three territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut). In these Canadian ...

s. Howlan initially opposed

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

, believing that the island would have little say. However, he supported railway building in the province and the resulting debt load forced the island to reconsider union with Canada. In 1873, he was named customs collector at

. In 1873, Howlan ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the House of Commons but was named to the Senate that same year. He married Mary E. Doran in 1881 after the death of his first wife. Howlan resigned from his seat in the Senate in 1891 to run unsuccessfully for a seat in the House of Commons but was appointed again to the Senate later that year. Also in 1891, he went to England as a representative of the province to discuss with engineers there the feasibility of a tunnel connecting the island to the mainland. Howlan died in Charlottetown in 1901.

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

The Honourable George William HowlanLieutenant-Governor Gallery, Prince Edward Island
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howlan, George W 1835 births 1901 deaths Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island Liberal Party MLAs Canadian senators from Prince Edward Island Lieutenant governors of Prince Edward Island People from Alberton, Prince Edward Island Politicians from County Waterford 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 19th-century members of the Senate of Canada