Mineral prospector.
Born at Aylmer, Quebec on 22 February 1882, he attended elementary school then worked in mines for a time. In 1907, in partnership with Charles Keeley and John Wood, he established the Keeley mine near Cobalt, Ontario. Soon after, he discovered the ore body that became the Kirkland Lake Gold Mines for a mining syndicate headed by Noah Timmins.
After serving at a Captain in the 56th Battalion in the First World War, he returned to mine development, taking over the Manitoba claim, in partnership with Thayer Lindsley, that became the Sherrit Gordon mine. He was President of the Gods Lake Gold Mines Limited that developed a mine on the south shore of Gods Lake that operated from 1935 to 1943. During the Second World War, to fill the need for magnesium, he developed a plant using a newly developed distillation process. He was President of Dominion Magnesium Limited until his death.
He and wife Myrtle Benedict (?-?) had four children, including Mary Jowsey (1916-2011, wife of Robert Hewitt). He died at Toronto, Ontario on 19 August 1965. He was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame (1994).
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Kanuchuan Generating Station (Kanuchuan River, Northern Manitoba)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Gods Lake Gold Mine (Gods Lake, Northern Manitoba)
Manitoba Business: Gods Lake Gold Mines
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
“Mine control fight starting,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 May 1964, page 22.
Obituary, Brandon Sun, 21 August 1965, page 14.
1994 Inductee: Robert J. Jowsey, Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.
Obituary [Mary Hewitt], Montreal Gazette, 2 April 2011.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 July 2022
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