# Oliver Mowat By [Tusklo](https://paragraph.com/@tusklo) · 2023-05-30 --- **Sir Oliver Mowat** [GCMG](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Grand_Cross_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George) [PC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Privy_Council_for_Canada) [QC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Counsel) (July 22, 1820 – April 19, 1903) was a [Canadian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadians) lawyer, politician, and Ontario Liberal Party leader. He served for nearly 24 years as the third [premier of Ontario](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_of_Ontario). He was the eighth [lieutenant governor of Ontario](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_governor_of_Ontario) and one of the [Fathers of Confederation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathers_of_Confederation). He is best known for defending successfully the constitutional rights of the provinces in the face of the centralizing tendency of the national government as represented by his longtime Conservative adversary, [John A. Macdonald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Macdonald). This longevity and power was due to his maneuvering to build a political base around Liberals, Catholics, trade unions, and anti-French-Canadian sentiment.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Mowat#cite_note-1) Early years ----------- Mowat was born in [Kingston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston,_Ontario), [Upper Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Canada) (now [Ontario](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario)), to John Mowat and Helen Levack, [Scottish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_people) [Presbyterians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterianism)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Mowat#cite_note-2) who both emigrated from [Caithness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caithness), [Scotland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland).[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Mowat#cite_note-3) As a youth, he had taken up arms with the loyalists during the [Upper Canada Rebellion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Canada_Rebellion) of 1837, which suggested a conservative inclination in politics. But he instead joined the [Reformers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Party_of_Canada_\(pre-Confederation\)). Mowat was [called to the bar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Called_to_the_bar) of Upper Canada on November 5, 1841. In 1846, he married Jane Ewart, a daughter of [John Ewart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ewart_\(architect\)) of [Toronto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto). Mowat and his wife had three sons and four daughters. In 1856 Mowat was appointed [Queen's Counsel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Counsel). He was known to be a tenacious legal practitioner, with two of his cases being upheld by the [Judicial Committee of the Privy Council](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Committee_of_the_Privy_Council). In the 1858 case _Bowes v. City of Toronto_, [John George Bowes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_George_Bowes) (previously [mayor of Toronto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Toronto)) was successfully sued for recovery of the share of the profit he was suspected to have made in collaboration with co-premier [Francis Hincks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Hincks) out of a speculation in city debentures.[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Mowat#cite_note-4) Afterwards, Mowat admitted, "I cannot speak with much force unless I have an opponent, and things are said by others which I do not altogether coincide with." Political career before Confederation ------------------------------------- In the 1850s Mowat first entered politics as an [alderman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alderman) of the City of Toronto in 1857. From there, he became a member of the [Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Assembly_of_the_Province_of_Canada) for South Ontario. As a member of the Assembly from 1858 to 1867, he was closely associated with [George Brown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Brown_\(Canadian_politician\)). Mowat served as [Provincial Secretary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provincial_Secretary) (1858) and [Postmaster-General](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmaster_General_of_Canada) (1863–1864) in the pre-[Confederation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Confederation) governments of George Brown and [John Sandfield Macdonald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sandfield_Macdonald) for the [Liberal Party of Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Party_of_Canada). Mowat was a member of the [Great Coalition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Coalition) government of 1864 and was a representative at that year's [Quebec Conference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Conference,_1864), where he helped work out the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments. On November 14, 1864, he was appointed to the judiciary as Vice-Chancellor of the [Court of Chancery of Upper Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Chancery_of_Upper_Canada),[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Mowat#cite_note-5) He held this position until he was appointed premier on October 25, 1872. One of the more notable cases during his time on the Court was _Dickson v Burnham_ in 1868,[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Mowat#cite_note-6) whose underlying jurisprudence would be altered during his later time as Premier, with the passage of the _Rivers and Streams Act, 1884_.[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Mowat#cite_note-7) --- *Originally published on [Tusklo](https://paragraph.com/@tusklo/oliver-mowat)*