View source for William John Bowser

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1867–1933)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name          = William John Bowser
| image         = William John Bowser.jpg
| caption       = Hon. William John Bowser
| order         = 17th [[Premier of British Columbia]]
| term_start    = December 15, 1915
| term_end      = November 23, 1916
| predecessor   = [[Richard McBride]]
| successor     = [[Harlan Carey Brewster]]
| monarch       = [[George V]]
| lieutenant_governor = [[Francis Stillman Barnard]]
| office1       = [[Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|MLA]] for [[Vancouver City (provincial electoral district)|Vancouver City]]
| term_start1   = October 3, 1903
| term_end1     = June 20, 1924
| predecessor1  = [[Joseph Martin (Canadian politician)|Joseph Martin]]
| successor1    = [[Ian Alistair MacKenzie]]
| alongside1    = [[James Garden]], [[Alexander Henry Boswall MacGowan]], [[Robert Garnett Tatlow]], [[Charles Wilson (British Columbia politician)|Charles Wilson]], [[George Albert McGuire]], [[Charles Edward Tisdall]], [[Henry Holgate Watson]], [[John Sedgwick Cowper]], [[John Wallace de Beque Farris]], [[Malcolm Archibald Macdonald]], [[John William McIntosh]], [[Ralph Smith (Canadian politician)|Ralph Smith]], [[Mary Ellen Smith]], [[James Ramsay (Canadian politician)|James Ramsay]]
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1867|12|3|mf=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Rexton, New Brunswick]], Canada
| death_date    ={{Death date and age|mf=yes|1933|10|25|1867|12|3}}
| death_place   = [[Vancouver, British Columbia]], Canada
| party         = Conservative
| spouse        = Lorinda Doherty Bowser
| children      = Eunice Margaret Mitchell
| religion      =
|}}
'''William John Bowser''' (December 3, 1867<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bowser_william_john_16E.html |title=Biography – Bowser, William John – Volume XVI (1931-1940) |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |access-date=December 29, 2019}}</ref> &ndash; October 25, 1933) was a politician in [[British Columbia]], Canada. He served as the 17th [[premier of British Columbia]] from 1915 to 1916.<ref name="roy">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/william-john-bowser |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |title=William John Bowser |last=Roy |first=Patricia E |access-date=September 3, 2011}}</ref>

The son of William Bowser and Margaret Gordon, Bowser was educated at [[Mount Allison University]] and [[Dalhousie University]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.villageofrexton.com/people.php |title=Historic People |publisher=Village of Rexton |access-date=September 3, 2011 |archive-date=October 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004082459/http://www.villageofrexton.com/people.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> He moved to [[Vancouver]] to practice law in 1891, and after being an unsuccessful candidate in the 1898 provincial election, was first elected to the provincial [[legislature]] in the [[1903 British Columbia general election|1903 election]] as a [[British Columbia Conservative Party|Conservative]]. Bowser served as [[Attorney General of British Columbia|Attorney General]] in the [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]] of Sir [[Richard McBride]] from 1907 until 1915.<ref name="roy"/> As Attorney General, Bowser forced the Squamish First Nation, then the False Creek Indian Band, off Kitsilano Indian Reserve no.6.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Harris|first=Douglas C.|date=2017|title=Property and Sovereignty: An Indian Reserve and a Canadian City|journal=UBC Law Review|volume=50|issue=2 |pages=334}}</ref> He also served as Minister of Finance and Agriculture between October 1909 and October 1910, and then again between March and December 1915.

In 1915, he succeeded McBride as [[Premier]].<ref name="roy"/> He also served as Attorney-General in his own administration.

The Conservative party was deeply divided and unpopular<ref name="roy"/> and the change in leadership did not improve matters. Accusations of corruption and "[[Political machine|machine politics]]" were rife. The Conservatives also neglected to address popular demands for [[women's suffrage]] and [[prohibition]]. Bowser's government was defeated in the [[1916 British Columbia general election|1916 election]], losing to Liberal leader [[Harlan Carey Brewster]], who two years later was succeeded by the more memorable [[John Oliver (British Columbia politician)|John Oliver]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Roy |first=Patricia |title=Harlan Carey Brewster |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online]] |year=1998 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7243 |access-date=2011-09-03}}</ref> Bowser continued as [[Leader of the Opposition (British Columbia)|leader of the opposition]] until he lost his seat in the [[1924 British Columbia general election|1924 election]].<ref name="roy"/>

He returned to politics in the [[1933 British Columbia general election|1933 election]] to lead the [[Non-Partisan Independent Group]] of candidates, but suffered a heart attack and died during the election campaign.<ref name="roy"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=BOWSER, WILLIAM JOHN |url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bowser_william_john_16E.html |access-date=2025-10-31 |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography}}</ref>

A river, a lake<ref>{{Cite bcgnis|id=545 |title=Bowser Lake}}</ref> and the small community of [[Bowser, British Columbia|Bowser]] on Vancouver Island,<ref>{{Cite bcgnis|id=28686 |title=Bowser (Community)}}</ref> between Parksville and the Comox Valley, are named for Bowser.
{{1896 Canadian federal election/Burrard}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{BCPremiers}}
{{Bowser ministry}}
{{McBride ministry}}
{{BC Con Leaders}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowser, William John}}
[[Category:1867 births]]
[[Category:1933 deaths]]
[[Category:Premiers of British Columbia]]
[[Category:Leaders of the opposition (British Columbia)]]
[[Category:British Columbia Conservative Party leaders]]
[[Category:British Columbia Conservative Party MLAs]]
[[Category:Canadian Presbyterians]]
[[Category:People from Kent County, New Brunswick]]
[[Category:Attorneys general of British Columbia]]
[[Category:Mount Allison University alumni]]
[[Category:Dalhousie University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia]]