John George Bowes
John George Bowes was a railway promoter and politician in the Province of Canada. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada.
He was born in Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland around 1812 and came to Upper Canada in 1833. He worked for his brother-in-law in York, Upper Canada, then opened a dry goods business with another brother-in-law in 1838.
He was president of the Toronto and Guelph Railway and also served on the board of directors of several other companies. In 1850, he was elected to city council and council selected him as mayor in 1851, 1852 and 1853.
His mayoralty of Toronto was clouded by claims of corruption. In 1853 George Taylor Denison II, and several other alderman, resigned mid-term to protest what they described as Bowes corruption. Bowes and Francis Hincks had benefitted from a bailout of the Toronto, Simcoe & Lake Huron Union Railroad, had sponsored legislation to issue bonds to pay back the railway's investors, without revealing that he and Bowes had bought out a large block of the stock, at a discounted value. The pair netted a quick gain of 10,000 pounds - a fortune in those days.
Although he was cleared of any charges, Bowes was forced to pay the profit that he had made to the city. In 1854, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada representing Toronto. He was elected to city council again in 1856 and served as mayor from 1861 to 1863. He died in Toronto in 1864.
