George William Howlan

HOWLAN, HONOURABLE GEORGE WILLIAM, merchant, ship owner, ship builder, and customs officer; b. 19 May 1835 in Waterford, Ireland, son of William Howlan and Ann Carroll Lomasmagh; m. first 1 October 1866 Elizabeth Olson, and there were no children; m. secondly 22 February 1881 Mary Doran of Kingston, Ontario, and there were no children; Roman Catholic; d. 11 May 1901 in Charlottetown. Howlan, a Liberal, was first elected to the House of Assembly in the 1862 general election for 1st Prince. He was re-elected in the general elections of 1867, 1870, 1872, and 1873. Howlan was appointed to Executive Council in 1867, when the Liberals were returned to power under George Coles. In 1868 he was a leading participant in the effort to have the Liberals fund Catholic schools. Following the election in 1870, Howlan demanded an endorsement of denominational schools in return for his support. The Protestant Liberals, led by Premier Haythorne, refused. Howlan then approached Conservative opposition leader J. C. Pope* with an offer to form an alliance. As a result, the balance of power shifted when Howlan and other Catholic Liberals joined Pope's Conservatives. Government accounts reveal that Howlan was not successful in his quest for funding for denominational schools. During the Pope administration, Howlan served in Executive Council from 1870 to 1872. In1871, despite previously being opposed to a railway for Prince Edward Island, Howlan engineered the passage of the railway bill of 1871. During this time, he was involved in the settlement of the Island's land question and in the Prince Edward Island Railway. In 1873 Howlan was sent to Washington to settle a dispute over the fishery on behalf of the Island, and also served as a delegate to Ottawa to arrange the terms under which Prince Edward Island should enter Confederation. He resigned his seat in the Assembly to accept the appointment as Collector of Customs for Charlottetown in June 1873. After a few months, Howlan resigned to contest Prince County for the House of Commons in the special federal election on 29 September 1873. Though unsuccessful in this attempt, he was appointed to the Senate on 18 October 1873. Howlan resigned his Senate seat on 27 December 1880 and was reappointed to the Senate on 5 January 1881. In February 1891 he again resigned, offering himself as a candidate in the federal general election for Prince County. Once more he was defeated. He was reappointed that same year to the Senate, resigning for the third time in 1894, when he accepted the position of Lieutenant-Governor of the province. Howlan served in this office from 24 February 1894 until 31 May 1899. Howlan was perhaps best-known for his advocacy of a tunnel from the Island to the Mainland, helping to promote the idea to such a degree that it became a serious topic of debate within the province. He is also credited with coining the phrase "million acre farm" to describe Prince Edward Island. Howlan came to the province with his family in 1839 at the age of four, settling in Charlottetown, where he was educated at the local school and at Central Academy. In his early career as a merchant, Howlan clerked in Charlottetown at Henry Haszard's general store on Great George Street, following which he occupied a similar position for Captain Ryder in Alberton. When Howlan returned to Charlottetown, he went into business with Charles McNutt for several years. Later hereturned to Alberton to operate his own business, which included shipbuilding and fishing. He was vice president of the Dominion Board of Trade and served as a governor of Prince of Wales College. George Howlan died 11 May 1901. Elizabeth Howlan of Saint John, New Brunswick, was the daughter of James Olson of Norway. She died on 10 April 1876.