Rowley, Owsley Robert

Owsley Robert Rowley was a Canadian banker, churchman, and author. He published two works, the first in 1907, titled The House of Bishops: portraits of the living archbishops and bishops of the Church of England in Canada, in order of consecration, with short historical notes concerning them and their dioceses, together with the portraits of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Bishop of London and the first colonial bishop, and the second in 1928, titled The Anglican episcopate of Canada and Newfoundland (which also had three supplements published, the latest in 2008).

Rowley was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in 1858, and was educated there. He began a career in banking in 1884 at the the Bank of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and would move on to work for the Merchants Bank of Canada and the Bank of British North America, until 1900. He would then work as an accountant for two years in Halifax, Nova Scotia, until he became an Inspector of branch returns in Montreal, Quebec in 1902. He was married to a woman named Mabel Treacher in 1905, in Windsor, Ontario, and would have a daughter named Grace. In 1912, he was promoted to Chief Inspector of branch returns, and in 1916, to Chief Inspector and Superintendent of eastern branches of the Bank of British North America, Montreal. In 1918, he became an Inspector of the Bank of Montreal, which had taken over the Bank of British North America.

Rowley was also a military man, having served from the 1880s to 1909 in the Canadian Militia. He was a Lieutenant with the 77th Wentworth Battallion in Dundas, Ontario, and served with the 13th Royal Regiment in Hamilton. From 1887 to 1902, he was part of the 66th Princess Louise Fusiliers in Halifax, and then was a Captain of the 5th Royal Scots of Canada in Montreal. From 1905 to 1909, he was honourary captain and paymaster, 2nd Regiment, Canadian Artillery in Montreal, and was awarded the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long officers' long service medal.

Rowley's involvement with the Anglican Church was similarly long-standing. He first became a people's warden of the Church of St. James the Apostle in Montreal, from 1905 to 1905, and then Rector's Warden from 1911 to 1912. He was Lay delegate to the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal from 1905 to 1932, and for two years was honourary secretary of the Diocese of the Arctic from 1933 to 1935. In 1934 and 1935, he was Lay delegate to the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, representing the Diocese of the Arctic. Finally, from 1934 to the 1940s, he was a member of the executive council of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Owsley Robert Rowley passed away in November of 1949, from injuries sustained in a car accident.