REV. J.B. John Bower Mowat

Type of entity Person Authorized form of name Mowat, J. B. (John Bower), 1825-1900 Description area Dates of existence 1825-1900 History John Bower Mowat (1825-1900), brother to Sir Oliver Mowat, was a minister in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and was appointed chair of Theology and Hebrew at Queen's University during the late nineteenth century.

John Bower Mowat, was born in 1825,

and later entered the ministry.

In 1849 he was called to St. Andrews Presbyterian Church,

Niagara-on-the-Lake, where he remained until 1857.

At that time he was appointed to the chair of Theology and Hebrew at Queen's University, where he remained until 1900.

Edinburgh University conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity on him.

John Bower Mowat married Janet McGill in 1854.

She died ten days after giving birth to Robert McGill in 1856.

John married Emma McDonald, daughter of the Hon. John McDonald of Ganonoque . Children of this second marriage:

Herbert (1862-1928),  Evalyn Lillian (1865-1955?),  Henrietta Ethelwyn (1868- 1928),  and John McDonald (1872-1916).

John Bower Mowat died on 16 July 1900. https://www.archeion.ca/mowat-j-b-john-bower-1825-1900
Rev John Bower Mowat

BIRTH 8 Jun 1825

Kingston, Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada

DEATH 15 Jul 1900 (aged 75)

Kingston, Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada

BURIAL

Cataraqui Cemetery Kingston, Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada MEMORIAL ID 201268065

John Bower Mowat was the son of John Mowat and Helen Levack. He married Janet McGill, daughter of the Rev. Robert McGill and his wife Catherine McLimont on September 24, 1855 in Montreal. John and Janet had one son, Robert McGill Mowat born December 1856. Janet died a few days after childbirth. John remarried in 1861 to Emma McDonald, daughter of the Hon. John McDonald of Gananoqui, Ontario. John and Emma had 4 children: Herbert Mowat (1863-1928) Evalyn Lillian Mowat (1865-1955?) Henrietta Ethelwyn Mowat (1868- 1928) John McDonald Mowat (1872-1916)

John was one of three students enrolled in the first-year program at Queen’s College, Kingston, Ontario when it first opened on March 7, 1842. He achieved his BA from Queen’s in 1845. He continued on with his studies at Queen’s, but in August 1846 he also accepted a position as catechist in the Victoria District, as he had decided to become a Presbyterian Minister. In 1846–47 he attended the University of Edinburgh for further study and in 1847 he received his MA from Queen’s. Then in the autumn of 1848, John was appointed catechist to Rev. John Machar, the minister of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kingston and principal of Queen’s College. He was there less than two years, when in the summer of 1849, he went to serve as pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. John was ordained at Niagara on 2 May 1850.

In 1857, John was appointed Professor of Oriental Languages, Biblical Criticism and Church History at Queen's University. He served as acting registrar of Queen’s in 1881.

In 1883, the year in which he was awarded an honorary DD by the University of Glasgow, the chair he held at Queen’s was divided; John retained Hebrew, Chaldee, and Old Testament exegesis and Donald Ross assumed a new chair in apologetics and New Testament criticism.

In May 1900, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mowat’s ordination, his presbytery presented him with a complimentary address in his own class-room at Queen’s.

Family Members Parents

John Mowat 1791–1860

Helen Levack Mowat 1791–1873

Spouses Janet Mcgill Mowat 1830–1856 (m. 1855)

Emma McDonald Mowat (m. 1861)

Siblings

Oliver Mowat 1820–1903
Jessie Bower Mowat Duff 1833–1913

Children
Robert McGill Mowat 1856–1942

Herbert MacDonald Mowat 1862–1928

John McDonald Mowat 1873–1916