Bowes, James R.

BOWES, James R. (1852-1892), son of John Bowes of Ottawa, was born in Ontario and presumably received his architectural training under his father. In 1874 he joined his father to form the partnership of John Bowes & Son. Together they are credited with several works in Ottawa in 1875, but it was evident that James was a capable designer in his own right because his father was '..kept continually busy by the duties of his office under government, and all the outside work devolves upon his son Mr. James R. Bowes' (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 6 Dec. 1875, 4). By 1876 the younger Bowes had opened his own office in Ottawa but left the city in late 1880 and moved to Winnipeg where he entered a partnership with Charles R. Barber (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 12 April 1881, 1, advert.; see list of works under Barber & Bowes). Within six months their relationship had ended, and Bowes worked elsewhere before returning to Ottawa in late 1884 to continue a practice under his own name. The Roman Catholic diocese in Ottawa offered him many commissions for schools and churches including his best known work, the eclectic High Victorian design for St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church, St. Patrick Street (1889-90). His last work was executed in Calgary where he designed a large mansion for James A. Lougheed, the Member of Parliament from Alberta who may have met Bowes during his frequent trips to Ottawa to represent his western Canadian constituency. Bowes died of injuries suffered in a boarding house fire in Hanford, California on 3 January 1892 (obituary in the Hanford Weekly Journal [Hanford, Cal.], 5 Jan. 1892, 2; Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 14 January 1892, 3; obituary in the Calgary Daily Herald, 28 January 1892, 1)

(works in Ottawa unless noted)

SUSSEX STREET, three stores for Eugene Martineau, 1874 (Free Press [Ottawa], 13 Jan. 1874, 2, t.c.)
CONVENT OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, Park Street, 1875-76 (Free Press [Ottawa], 12 July 1875, 4; 1 Feb. 1877, 4, descrip.)
OTTAWA LADIES COLLEGE, Albert Street at Bay Street, major addition, 1875 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 6 Dec. 1875, 4, descrip.)
MURRAY STREET, at Sussex Street, hotel for F.X. Landreau, 1875 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 6 Dec. 1875, 4)
PARK AVENUE, pair of houses for John Heney and Fraser McDougall, 1875 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 6 Dec. 1875, 4)
NEPEAN STREET, near Concession Street, residence for Percy Enright, 1875 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 6 Dec. 1875, 4)
NOTRE DAME ROMAN CATHOLIC BASILICA, Sussex Drive at St. Patrick Street, new galleries and improvements, 1875 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 6 Dec. 1875, 4)
INSTITUT CANADIEN FRANCAIS, York Street, 1876-77; burned 1887; rebuilt (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 26 June 1876, 4, descrip.; 20 June 1877, 1, illus. & descrip.)
CHAPEL STREET, at Stewart Street, residence for Henry Robillard, 1877 (Free Press [Ottawa, 2 April 1877, 3, t.c.)
METCALFE STREET, at Somerset Street, residence for W.J. Tilley, 1878 (Free Press [Ottawa], 16 May 1878, 2, t.c.)
OTTAWA STREET, at Wilbrod Street, terrace of houses for John Fitzsimmons, 1879 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 10 Jan. 1879, 4)
LISGAR STREET, opposite the Collegiate, residence for W. Davis, 1880 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 3 June 1880, 3)
KINGSTON, ONT., St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Johnson Street, tower, spire and completion of six turrets, 1884-86; completed by Joseph Connolly (Globe [Toronto], 22 Nov. 1884, 4, t.c.; Catholic Record [London], 28 Oct. 1893, 5)
O'CONNOR STREET, at Nepean Street, residence for Timothy Rajotte, 1886 (handwwritten specifications in the possession of William Roberts, Guelph, Ont.)
PERTH, ONT., St. John The Baptist Roman Catholic Church, interior alterations and improvements, with decoration of the interior, 1886 (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 8 Oct. 1886, 4)
DOUGLAS, ONT. St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, for the Diocese of Pembroke, 1887 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 23 June 1887, 4)
McLAREN STREET, residence for H.D. Harris, 1887 (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 8 Sept. 1887, 4)
CENTRAL FIRE HALL, Albert Street at Elgin Street, 1887 (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 12 Nov. 1887, 6, extensive descrip.)
ST. JOSEPH'S ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, College Avenue, 1888 (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 13 June 1888, 4, descrip.)
ST. PATRICK'S ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, Nepean Street, 1888 (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 13 June 1888, 4, descrip.)
NOTRE DAME ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, King Street at Murray Street, 1888 (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 13 June 1888, 4, descrip.)
NEW EDINBURGH ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, 1888 (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 13 June 1888, 4, descrip.)
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, Elgin Street at Albert Street, 1888; demol. (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 13 June 1888, 4; 15 Dec. 1888, 2, descrip.)
RIDEAU SKATING & CURLING RINK, Theodore Street, on the east side of the Rideau Canal, 1888 (Ottawa Journal, 19 Jan. 1888, 1, descrip.; Ottawa Daily Citizen, 30 Nov. 1888, 3)
POLICE STATION & HEADQUARTERS, Canal Street at Queen Street, 1888-89; demol. (C.A.B., i, Nov. 1888, 6; Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 20 July 1889, 6; Evening Journal [Ottawa], 20 July 1889, 5, descrip.)
ST. PATRICK'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Kent Street, interior alterations, 1888 (C.A.B., i, Dec. 1888, 7)
VINTON, QUE., Roman Catholic Church, 1888-89 (C.A.B., i, Dec. 1888, 7; Ottawa Daily Citizen, 5 Sept. 1889, 4)
MacLAREN STREET, residence for Rollin O. Smith, 1889 (C.A.B., ii, May 1889, 56)
J. MARTIN FLOUR & FEED CO., Wellington Street, warehouse, 1889 (C.A.B., ii, May 1889, 56)
BUCKINGHAM, QUE., public school, 1889 (C.A.B., ii, May 1889, 56)
FIRE HALL NO. 7, Dalhousie Ward, Somerset Street at Bell Street, 1889 (C.A.B., ii, June 1889, 63)
ALHAMBRA HOTEL, Queen Street near O'Connor Street, for Bernard Mellon, 1889-90 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 12 Oct. 1889, 8; Free Press [Ottawa], 7 April 1890, 8)
GLOUCESTER STREET, at Metcalfe Street, residence for Samuel Daniels, 1889 (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 9 July 1889, 4)
ST. BRIGID'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Cumberland Street at St. Patrick's Street, 1889-90 (Ottawa Daily Citizen, 15 May 1890, 2, descrip.; 2 Aug. 1890, 6, illus. & descrip.; Free Press [Ottawa], 6 May 1889, 1 & 4, illus. & descrip.; 2 Aug. 1890, 1, illus. & descrip.; Globe [Toronto], 4 Aug. 1890, 6, descrip.; Andrew Waldron, Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the Ottawa-Gatineau Region, 2017, 45, illus. & descrip.)
ST. FRANCOIS d'ASSISE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Wellington Street at Fairmont Avenue, 1890; demolished 1914 (Ottawa Free Press, 9 June 1890, 1, t.c.)
CALGARY, ALTA., mansion for Senator James A. Lougheed, 13th Avenue at 9th Street S.W., 1891 (Calgary Weekly Herald, 6 Jan. 1892, 2, descrip., but incorrectly attributed to 'R.H. Bowes [sic], architect of Ottawa')