Robert Barrowman (December 24, 1881 – February 18, 1947) was a politician and artist in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Born outside

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, Barrowman showed talent as an artist from an early age drawing sketches of the countryside but was employed in his youth as a shipbuilder for Clyde Shipping Company. Barrowman emigrated to Canada in 1907, and settled first in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

where he worked for the Blue Ribbon Tea Company and then in

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

where he worked for a sign painting company. In 1910, he settled in

Lethbridge, Alberta Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

where he founded City Sign Works and Lethbridge Posting Company and became a prominent local businessman. He was elected to city council in 1924, becoming mayor of Letbridge in 1928 and served in that position until 1934. In the 1935 provincial election, Barrowman was the

Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party () is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election, with the first three provincial ...

's candidate in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

placing a distant second behind the

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

candidate. He had also been an independent candidate in the 1930 provincial election but was unsuccessful. Barrowman served as president of the

and, as such, served as interim leader of the party in 1941 following the resignation of party leader

Edward Leslie Gray Edward Leslie Gray (April 8, 1895 – June 13, 1992) was a politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from Alberta, Canada. Gray was born April 8, 1895, in Maple Valley, Ontario to Samuel Gray and Mary Taylor, both of Irish d ...

. An accomplished self-taught painter, he was interested in nature, in particular fossils and geology, influenced Mike Pisko and painted with A.Y. Jackson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrowman, Robert 1861 births 1947 deaths Artists from Alberta Mayors of Lethbridge Alberta Liberal Party candidates in Alberta provincial elections Scottish emigrants to Canada 20th-century Canadian painters 20th-century mayors of places in Alberta Canadian male painters Canadian landscape painters 20th-century Canadian male artists