CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Donald James Cowan

Canadian politician (1883–1964)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ5294597
Source-derived summary

Donald James Cowan (January 3, 1883 – January 14, 1964) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He represented Port Arthur—Thunder Bay in the House of Commons of Canada.

Born in Drumbo, Blenheim Township, Oxford County, Ontario, Cowan was the son of James D. Cowan and Elizabeth Taylor. Educated in Galt, at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Law School, he established a law practice in Port Arthur, Ontario, in 1908. In 1912, Cowan married Edith Ruby Anderson. He served three years 1913–1915 as an alderman and two years as mayor 1916–1917. Subsequently, he was city solicitor from January 1919 to November 1934. Cowan was appointed Crown attorney for Thunder Bay District, Ontario, in November 1925. In 1928, he was named King's Counsel. He was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative in September 1926 and again in 1930.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Donald James Cowan” as canadian politician (1883–1964). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1883, 1964, 1908, 1912—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1883-01-03. The account is most persuasive where Donald, James and Cowan can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as canadian politician (1883–1964). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5294597. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1883, 1964, 1908 and 1912.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Donald James Cowan”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Donald James Cowan primary sources, Donald James Cowan archive and Donald research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Donald James Cowan”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Donald James Cowan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.