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Ernest W. Bowness is a
prominent consulting engineer of Edmonton and his professional skill has
been called into play in connection with the development of many
important public utilities in various parts of Canada and the United
States. lie was born on Prince Edward Island in 1879, and is of Scotch
descent in both the paternal and maternal lines. He is a son of Andrew
and Elizabeth Gertrude (Stewart) Bowness, also natives of that island.
The father was born in 1850 and still resides in that locality, having
reached the age of seventy-three years, but the mother passed away in
1914.
In the acquirement of an education Ernest W. Bowness attended the public
schools of his native island and Prince of Wales College at
Charlottetown, from which he was graduated in 189$. The ensuing year was
spent as a teacher in the schools of Charlottetown and he then enlisted
as a private in the Second Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, of which
he was a member for a year. He won promotion to the rank of lieutenant
and was attached to the Eighty-second Regiment of Canadian Militia, but
resigned his commission to enter the South African war. He participated
in many hard fought engagements during that campaign and was awarded a
service medal with four bars. He served until the close of the war,
receiving his honourable discharge at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1901, and
was one of two men chosen to represent his regiment, the Eighty- second
Infantry, at the coronation of King George in 1903.
After completing his
military service Mr. Bowness entered McGill University at Montreal, in
which he pursued a course in engineering, and was graduated from that
institution in 1905, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. From 1905
until 1907 he was a member of the faculty of the Case School of Applied
Science at Cleveland, Ohio, having charge of laboratory work and
delivering special lectures on electric traction, hydraulic engineering,
etc. Returning to Canada, he devoted the year 1907 to making surveys and
reports on Bow River water power development west of Calgary, in the
province of Alberta, and in the following year he was occupied with the
work of making surveys and reports on Chaudier Basin and Seven Falls
development projects in Quebec. In 1909 he was sales engineer at
Vancouver, British Columbia, for the Canadian Westinghouse Company and
later in the same year was manager of the Calgary office of that firm.
In 1910 he was employed by the western office of the firm of Smith,
Kerry & Chase, located at Vancouver, to make a number of reports and
estimates on water power developments of from five thousand to sixty
thousand horse power. He also designed and constructed several water
power plants, in addition to other work, and in 1911 again went to the
States, becoming manager of the light and power department of the Mount
Hood Railway & Power Company of Portland, Oregon. He organized the
department, secured all franchises and supervised the work of designing
and constructing a fifty thousand kilowatt water power plant, a five
thousand kilowatt auxiliary steam plant, transmission and distribution
lines, substations, etc. When the Mount 1-looci Company was absorbed by
the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company in 1912, Mr. Bowness was
offered a similar position with that corporation and he was also
consulting engineer for the Northwestern Electric Company of Portland
and for other firms of that city. In 1913 he acted as efficiency
engineer for the city of Edmonton and from 1914 until 1918 he was
consulting engineer on several water power and steam development
projects in western Canada. He was made manager of the Edmonton Power
Company and prepared reports and estimates on water power on the
Saskatchewan river for the firm of Sir John Jackson, Ltd., and a
Montreal syndicate. In 1919 he made reports and estimates on East River
Sheet Harbour water power development in Nova Scotia for W. D. Ross,
including an investigation in reference to the electrification of the
New Glasgow plant of the Nova Scotia Steel Company, and in 1920 he
furnished reports and estimates on water power for the Fraser Timber
Syndicate of Prince George, British Columbia, in addition to
miscellaneous consulting. Mr. Bowness is now serving as president of the
Empire Engineering Company of Edmonton, and his broad practical
experience and a detailed knowledge of the scientific principles
underlying his work enable him to find a ready and correct solution for
all intricate and difficult professional problems.
While in the Pacific
Northwest, Mr. Bowness was married at Seattle, Washington, on June 24,
1913, to Miss Virginia Bell Gravitt, a daughter of Harry Gravitt of Los
Angeles, California. Mr. Bowness is a Presbyterian in religious faith
and in Masonry has taken the thirty-second degree. He is a member of the
Edmonton Board of Trade, the Edmonton Club and the Edmonton Golf &
Country Club, and he keeps in close touch with the advancement that is
constantly being made in his chosen field of activity through his
identification with the civil and electrical branches of the
Professional Engineers of Alberta, while he is also an associate member
of the Engineering Institute of Canada. His life has been one of intense
activity and usefulness and the importance of the projects with which he
has been connected establishes his professional standing. his labors
have been a most important factor in the development and utilization of
the natural resources of various parts of the country and the record of
his achievements is the best commentary upon his ability and enterprise. |
