Mackenzie Bowell, appointed Acting Prime Minister by PM Sir John Thompson while the latter visited Great Britain and France in the fall of 1894, was in his East Block office on this date in 1894 when a telegram arrived. “Reported from Windsor Castle that Sir John Thompson expired after meeting of Privy Council,” it read.
Bowell refused to believe the news, telling his colleagues he thought it must be a rumour circulating in the British press. Thompson, after all, was only 49-years-old and had been Prime Minister of Canada only two short years.
“I’m not going to give it credit until it’s confirmed,” Bowell said.
A few minutes later, however, another telegram arrived. This one came from Canadian High Commissioner to the UK, Sir Charles Tupper. “Deeply regret to say that Sir John died suddenly at Windsor Castle, after the ceremony of swearing-in (by Queen Victoria to the Imperial Privy Council),” it read.
Bowell immediately burst into tears. A few days later, Bowell would be sworn-in as Prime Minister.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.