A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1866. In September of that year he retired with the rank of captain, and
1773 words | Chapter 166
in April, 1869, having been invited to return to Canada, he took command
of the Dominion steamship _Druid_, then employed protecting the
fisheries. In the spring of 1870, he removed to the government
steamship, _Lady Head_, and took charge of the vessels employed in the
fisheries protection service. In 1871, in addition to the above duties,
he was appointed chairman of the Board of Examiners of Masters and Mates
for Canada, which office he still holds. In November, 1879, Captain
Scott was directed to proceed to England, to bring out the corvette
_Charybdis_, of about 2,000 tons, to be employed as a training ship. As
the vessel could not be got ready until late in the winter, Captain
Scott concluded to lay her up and return for her in the following
spring. In May, 1880, he sailed her across the Atlantic, and moored her
in St. John, in July of the same year. In February, 1886, on the United
States government giving notice that the fishery clauses of the Treaty
of Washington had terminated, Canada fitted out a small squadron to
protect her fisheries; and Captain Scott again assumed the command,
embarking on the government steamer _Lansdowne_, with two guns and
thirty-three men. In August he took command of the government steamer
_Acadia_, with one gun and thirty-three men, and is still in the service
of the Canadian government. In March, 1847, he married M. A. Hobbs,
daughter of George Hobbs, a merchant in Eastport, Maine, United States.
* * * * *
=La Rocque, Rev. Paul S.=, St. Hyacinthe, Canon and Rector of St.
Hyacinthe Cathedral, Doctor of Theology and Canon Law, was born at St.
Marie de Monnoir, province of Quebec, on the 28th October, 1846. His
father was Albert La Rocque, and mother, Genevieve Daigneault. His
brother, the Rev. Charles La Rocque, is chaplain of the Good Shepherd
Convent, at Montreal; and the Right Rev. Joseph La Rocque, and the Right
Rev. Charles La Rocque, the first and second bishops of St. Hyacinthe,
were his cousins. The Rev. Father La Rocque received his education at
St. Theresa and St. Hyacinthe Colleges. He was ordained a priest on the
9th May, 1869, and from that time until 1880, was a missionary in
Florida, United States. Without any official connection during his stay
at Key West he acted as chaplain to the United States troops stationed
there. He then returned to St. Hyacinthe, and the following year, 1881,
he went to Rome, and pursued his studies in the Gregorian and the
Appolinaire Universities. He remained in the Eternal City for two years
and a half, and then made a tour of the principal cities of Europe. He
also travelled to the Holy Land, and visited Jerusalem, Nazareth, etc.
This journey was undertaken with the view of gaining all the information
possible with regard to Bible history, and to put him in a position to
communicate the most accurate information to his flock, with regard to
that far-off country. As a linguist, Rev. Canon La Rocque has few, if
any, equals in Canada, being able to speak five different languages. He
is a great favorite with his parishioners, takes a deep interest in
their material and spiritual affairs, and is very kind and attentive to
the sick and needy. The degree of doctor of theology and canon law was
conferred upon him at Rome.
* * * * *
=Bowell, Hon. Mackenzie=, Minister of Customs of the Dominion of Canada,
M.P. for North Hastings, Ontario, was born at Rickinghall, Suffolk,
England, on the 27th December, 1823, and when about ten years of age
accompanied his parents to Canada. Mr. Bowell, in early youth, exhibited
much courage and enterprise, and one is not surprised to see what he has
achieved when looking back at his career. He had a quick eye for
business, and was seldom astray in judging what sort of enterprise was
profitable, and what had better be avoided. He had also a military
enthusiasm, and assisted in 1857, in raising and organizing a rifle
company of sixty-five men, in what was known at that time as class B, to
which no assistance was given by the government, beyond furnishing the
rifles. He served on the frontier in the winter of 1864-5, during the
American rebellion, and again during the Fenian troubles of 1866. He
entered a printing office as an apprentice in 1834, and during his whole
life up to the time when heavy political responsibilities fell upon his
shoulders, he was connected with the newspaper press of Canada. He was
editor and proprietor of the Belleville _Daily_ and _Weekly
Intelligencer_ newspaper for a number of years, and at one time
president of the Dominion Editors and Reporters’ Association. In
education he has taken considerable interest, as is evidenced by the
fact that he held for eleven years the chairmanship of the Board of
School Trustees, of Belleville. He has always been a prominent
Orangeman, and was for eight years grand master of the Provincial Orange
Grand Lodge of Ontario East, which position he resigned, when in 1870 he
was elected most worshipful grand master and sovereign of the Orange
Association of British America. This office he continued to hold until
he resigned in June, 1878. He was likewise president of the Triennial
Council of Orangeism of the world, having been elected to that position
at the council held in Derry, Ireland, in 1876. From Mr. Bowell’s
connection with important public enterprises is gathered his connection
with industrial and commercial movements. He was, for many years,
president of the West Hastings Agricultural Society, and vice-president
of the Agricultural and Arts Association of Ontario; president of the
Hastings Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the Farren Manufacturing
Company, and the Dominion Safe-Gas Company, and president of the
Belleville and North Hastings Railway; and was captain of No. 1 company
of the 15th battalion while on service during the Fenian troubles, and
subsequently major in the 49th battalion of Volunteer Rifles. In 1863
Mr. Bowell contested the north riding of the county of Hastings for
parliamentary honors, as the nominee of the Conservative convention, but
refusing to join in the cries against the incorporation of Roman
Catholic institutions, and what was then termed French domination, which
were made test questions at the time, he was defeated. In 1867 he again
presented himself to the electors of North Hastings, and having stated
his views with that calm reasonableness which has always characterized
his utterances, he was elected. He entered parliament therefore at
confederation, but took no very prominent part in the debates of the
house for the first two or three years. His first success in parliament
was in his criticism of a measure introduced by the late Sir George E.
Cartier, then minister of militia, for the purpose of reorganizing the
militia force of Canada. Upon this occasion his practical experience and
knowledge of the requirements of the volunteer force had its effect upon
the house, and he succeeded in helping to defeat the government upon the
details of the bill three times during one sitting of the house. Being
an independent thinker, he was not always in accord with the leaders of
his party, having voted against them upon many important measures,
notably the Nova Scotia better terms resolutions, and upon the motion
for the ratification of the Washington treaty. He was re-elected in
1872, and, consequently, in parliament, when the Macdonald government
fell, and the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie succeeded to power. It was in
opposition that Mr. Bowell took a leading part, not only in the business
of the house, but upon the most important committees. He inaugurated and
conducted the proceedings in the House of Commons which resulted in his
moving the motion for the expulsion of Louis David Riel, member elect
for Provencher, Manitoba, for the part he, Riel, had taken in ordering
the shooting of Scott, a prisoner of his during the revolt in Manitoba
in 1879. He also took an active part in bringing before the house the
question of the violation of the provisions of the Independence of
Parliament Act, by its speaker, and by a number of its members. The
motion which he made upon this question, though defeated, led
subsequently to the resignation of Mr. Speaker Anglin, one member of the
cabinet, and four members of the house. He did not make many speeches,
but whenever he spoke, the members always listened to him, for he had
gained the reputation of being a man who had, first, something to say,
and, second, a reasonable and a satisfactory way of saying it. He has
been successful at every election since. On the 19th of October, 1878,
upon the resumption of power by the Conservative party, Mr. Bowell was
called to the Privy Council, and sworn in minister of customs, and that
office he still holds. The member for North Hastings is level-headed,
and possessed of a sound judgment. It is pleasing sometimes to sit in
the gallery of the House of Commons and watch him answer questions or
reply to allegations waged against the administration of his department.
Under no circumstances, nor by any pressure or irritation, can he be
moved to haste or ill-temper; but he sits there, disregarding feeling,
and doing what he considers to be his duty as a minister of the Crown.
Mr. Bowell married in 1847; Harriet Louise, eldest daughter of the late
Jacob G. Moore, of Belleville, by whom he has nine children, five of
whom are living.
* * * * *
=Ritchie, Hon. Robert J.=, Solicitor-General of the Province of New
Brunswick, M.P.P. for the county of St. John, was born in St. John, and
educated in the city of his birth. Having studied and adopted law as a
profession, he was called to the bar on the 16th of October, 1867. Since
then he has worked up an extensive and prosperous practice. He has for
many years taken a great interest in politics, and was first nominated
for a seat in the House of Assembly just previous to the general
election in 1878. He won his seat, and at once took a prominent part in
the debates in the house. Having offered again in 1882, he was a second
time successful. Again, at the general election on 26th April, 1886, he
scored a great victory, standing second among the fortunate candidates.
The vote was, Hon. D. McLellan, 2943; R. J. Ritchie, 2570; W. A.
Quintin, 2531; A. A. Stockton, 2531; defeating James Rourke, 2188; J. A.
Chesley, 1834; G. G. Gilbert, 1645; John Connor, 1468; A. T. Armstrong,
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