Newton Wesley Rowell, (November 1, 1867 – November 22, 1941) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

lawyer, politician, judge, and lay leader in the Methodist Church. Rowell led the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...

from 1911 to 1917 and put forward a platform advocating temperance. Rowell's Liberals failed to oppose the Whitney government's passage of Regulation 17 which restricted the teaching of the French language in schools and alienated the province's

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

minority.

Life and career

Rowell was born in London Township, Ontario. He ran for the

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in the 1900 federal election but was defeated in York East. Returning to his law practice, Rowell was made

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1902. He became senior partner in his law firm (Rowell, Reid, and Wood) and had a prominent legal career. He returned to politics in 1911. Though not a candidate, he was a prominent campaigner supporting the government of Sir

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and Liberal politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadians, French ...

during the 1911 federal election. Rowell spoke across Ontario to promote both Laurier's plan for a Canadian Navy and the trade reciprocity agreement that had been negotiated between the federal government and the United States against the opposition of prominent Liberal business leaders, who feared that

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

would be extended to manufacturing. Later that year, Rowell was chosen to lead the Ontario Liberal Party, despite not having a seat in the legislature, after the incumbent leader, Alexander Grant MacKay, was forced to resign shortly before the beginning of that year's election campaign. He was elected to the legislature in the 1911 provincial election (representing Oxford North) and became

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. In 1917, Rowell, a supporter of

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, left the Ontario legislature and broke with Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

to join the national Unionist government of Sir

Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942), Conservative politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known ...

as a result of the

Conscription Crisis of 1917 The Conscription Crisis of 1917 () was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also brought out many issues regarding relatio ...

. He was appointed to Borden's government as President of the Privy Council of Canada in October 1917 and was also made vice-chairman of the government's War Committee, which gave him primary responsibility for organizing the war effort and enforcing conscription. He went on to win a seat in the House of Commons as the Unionist MP for Durham in the December 1917 federal election. Rowell attended meetings of the Imperial War Cabinet in London, England, along with other senior Canadian ministers. In 1919, he was given added responsibilities as Canada's first Minister of Health. Rowell declined to join the government of Borden's successor, Arthur Meighen, in 1920, and he did not run for re-election to parliament in 1921. After the war, Rowell served as a Canadian delegate to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

and became involved in international affairs. He also helped lead the Methodists into a merger with

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

to form the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

. As a lawyer, Rowell had one of the strongest litigation practices in Toronto, arguing many cases before the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

and the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

, including '' Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General)'', better known as the Persons Case. In 1903, he had founded the firm that is now known as McMillan LLP. In 1929, he argued and won the Persons Case, concerning whether women were eligible for appointment to the Canadian Senate. The Supreme Court of Canada said that they were not, but Rowell successfully appealed the case to the Privy Council in London in a landmark decision for female equality in Canada. Rowell served as president of the

Ontario Bar Association The Ontario Bar Association (OBA) is a bar association representing more than 16,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Ontario. It is also a branch of the Canadian Bar Association. Approximately two-thirds of a ...

from 1927 to 1930 and as national president of the

Canadian Bar Association The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada. History The Association's first Annual Meeting was ...

from 1932 to 1934. In 1936, he was appointed Chief Justice of Ontario. He is also noted for being the first chair of the 1937 Rowell–Sirois Commission into Dominion-Provincial economic relations and for being a founding leader of the

. Asked how to say his name, he told '' The Literary Digest'' it had ''ow'' as in ''now'' – row-ELL. His daughter Mary wed Harry Jackman in 1930. As a result, Rowell was the maternal grandfather of former

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario The lieutenant governor of Ontario (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''de l'Ontario'') is the representative in Ontario of the monarch, who operates distinctly within the province but i ...

Hal Jackman and former Senator

Nancy Ruth Nancy Ruth Rowell Jackman (born January 6, 1942) is a Canadian heiress, activist, philanthropist and former Canadian senator. Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed her to the Senate on March 24, 2005. While initially appointed as a Progressiv ...

Electoral record

References

External links

*
Member's parliamentary history for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

"Newton Wesley Rowell"
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Newton 1867 births 1941 deaths Unionist Party (Canada) MPs Liberal-Unionist MPs in Canada Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Justices of the Court of Appeal for Ontario Leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party Lawyers in Ontario 20th-century Canadian lawyers Canadian Bar Association Presidents Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the United Church of Canada Treasurers of the Law Society of Upper Canada Canadian King's Counsel 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Life and career

Archives

Electoral record

References

External links