John Robert Cowell 1847-1923

[From Isle of Man Examiner, 20th April 1923 ]

DEATH OF ONE OF THE ISLANDS MOST FAMOUS LEGISLATORS.

A message received from Mr Frank K. Grindley, of Alberta, Canada (son of the late Mr Thomas Grindley, of Douglas, and formerly on the staff of the " Isle of Man Times") announces the death of Mr John Robert Cowell, Clerk to the Provincial Assembly of Alberta, and for over twenty years a member of the House of Keys. Mr Cowell had been in failing health for the last few months. Mr Cowell, who was about 76 years old, was a native of Ramsey, and at the commencement of his public career was carrying on business in that town as a grocer. He subsequently entered into partnership with the late Mr Robert Wattleworth senr, as a supplier of timber and builders material generally, and a corn and seed merchant; and he also engaged extensively in a number of those speculative enterprises which provided the public with services of a most valuable and essential character, but did not prove remunerative to the original promoters. He was a director of the now defunct Manx Northern Railway Co., of the defunct I.O.M. Tramways and Electric Power Co. and its offshoot the Snaefell Electric Railway Co., and of various other concerns which came to an unhappy termination upon the closing of Dumbell's Bank—though in most instances their assets were developed profitably by other companies which built on their foundations. Mr Cowell passed through the bankruptcy courts in 1900, and it was the universal opinion that the cross-examination which he underwent at the hands of ex-Deemster Moore, was unjustifiably harsh. It was on this occasion that Deemster Moore delivered himself of the celebrated dictum, "A thing is worth what it will fetch"—which is undoubtedly true, subject to the qualification that the same thing will fetch different sums in times of boom and of slump. This financial crash resulted in Mr Cowell's resigning his position in the Manx Legislature, and emigrating shortly afterwards. The post which he obtained almost immediately on arriving in the new country was one for which his talents and experience naturally fitted him, and it has, by unanimous consent been discharged with the most perfect satisfaction.

Mr Cowell entered the House of Keys in 1881, representing the sheading of Ayre in company with Messrs. E. C. Farrant and Thomas Martin, deceased. At the next General Election, in 1886, he was returned for his native constituency, Ramsey, succeeding the late Mr William Crennell, senr., father of the distinguished legislator who sat for Ramsey a generation later. Mr Cowell soon became one of the foremost figures in the Legislature—indeed, the debates throughout the eighties may be roughly described as quadrilateral between Mr Cowell, Mr William Farrant, Mr Laughton, and Major Stephen—the other members only spoke occasionally. That is doubtless why these debates are supposed to be so immensely superior to those of the present day, In the great Permit controversy of 1897. Mr Cowell's position was challenged by Mr Thomas Cowley, another mighty man in his day. and he retained his seat by an exceedingly slender majority.

It is difficult for one of the younger generation to understand the power which John Robert Cowell wielded among the men and women of his time. A correspondent, to this journal recently described him as "the finest orator who ever adorned the Manx Legislature." The eulogy would be bold, and possibly extravagant, if applied to Mr W. M. Kerruish; and it certainly is not borne out by anything in Mr Cowell's printed speeches. One realises that eloquence, and even, wit, usually loses its lustre when set down in black and white; but those speeches are frequently bombastic, redundant question-begging, unchastened either by correct syntax or good taste, and they afford no reason for estimating Mr Cowell as high as any of his successors in the representation of Ramsey. And yet his power is indisputable. A story is told of how a tumultuous assemblage occurred in the Ramsey marketplace, which threatened to develop into a downright serious riot. Mr Cowell gained a vantage point, and partly by cowing the agitators—he was a magistrate at the time, and he knew every face in front of him—and partly by "soothing them, he soon restored a perfect calm. He really had a commanding presence, a stentorian voice, and a gift for pouring out an endless torrent of stirring words—a gift developed by practice in the Wesleyan pulpits of the North; and when in 1881, the young shopkeeper from a side street took his seat among the landed gentry and the big farmers and manufacturers who then composed the House of Keys, and preached a fiery Radicalism—incidentally, his was the first Local Option Bill in the Isle of Man —there were many ardent reformers who believed that a Joshua had arisen to conduct them over the border into the Promised Land. If Mr Cowell's Radicalism and his temperance have cooled in the progress of the years, that is hardly a matter for reproach. But his business activities led him into strange political associations, and many people, impressed by Mr Cowell's career, hold that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a legislator to become a company director and still enter the kingdom of heaven.

Nevertheless, Mr Cowell made incalculable sacrifices for the public welfare, and rendered great public service. He was of a sanguine temperament, and foresaw a great future for the Island as a visiting resort. He was the first chairman of the Board of Advertising, which body largely owes its existence to his energies; and his prophecy that the passenger arrivals would one day total half-a-million is often quoted in modern debates. In the affairs of Ramsey—where he was for many years a Town Commissioner—and in the affairs of the Island generally, he was ever the advocate of improvement and progress, better harbours, better roads, better travelling facilities, and so on. He is, indeed, the standing example in the Isle of Man of the man who did far better for the public than he ever did for himself.

Mr Cowell's wife was a Miss Killip, some of whose relatives still reside in Ramsey. His eldest son, Mr J. R. Cowell, junr., was at one time a leading public official in Omaha, U.S.A.. under the regime of Mr Brand Whitlocke, subsequently American ambassador in Brussels at the time of the execution of Nurse Cavell; another son, Mr James D. (" Donie") Cowell rendered meritorious service with the Canadian contingents in the Great War; other sons, Messrs. W. C. and Percy Cowell, were well known in the social life of Ramsey.

References:

The Failure of Dumbell's Bank: the Great Bank Trial. Mona's Herald's History and Report; with portraits of those connected with the Company and Court Douglas: 1900

The Manx Sun: History of Dumbell's Bank Douglas: 1900

Connery Chappell The Dumbell Affair Prescot: Stephenson 1981 0-901314-21-8