Obituary

1900, February 19th

We regret to announce the death of Mr. Joseph Cowen, formerly member of Parliament for Newcastle-on-Tyne. Mr. Cowen, who was born in 1831, had for some years been in indifferent health, and he gradually grew worse as the present winter advanced. His death took place at his residence, Stellahall, Blaydon-on-Tyne, on Saturday night.

The name of Joseph Cowen has been associated with the city of Newcastle for more than one generation. Mr. Joseph Cowan's father, Sir Joseph Cowen, spent a great part of his life in the successful endeavour to restore the river Tyne from the condition of a shallow ditch, unfit for navigation by anything better than coal-barges, to that of a valuable and important harbour and river-channel, capable of bearing the many battleships and the merchant ships that are built upon its banks and launched in its waters. For his work in connection with the River Tyne Commission he was knighted. His son's connection with Newcastle was of another character. Though neither his appearance not his disposition gave him any of those advantages which can help men forward in public life, he contrived, during the dozen years in which he represented Newcastle in Parliament, to impress his individuality in a remarkable manner, not only upon the constituency which elected him, but also to some extent upon the country at large. Short of stature, uncouth in dress and figure, and speaking a tongue the peculiarities of which are admired only by those to the manner born, he commanded, in his early appearances in Parliament, anything but respect. Among other peculiarities he introduced to Parliament the flat felt hat which forms the Sunday headgear of the Northumbrian pitman. Though not a miner, but an owner of several coal mines, Mr. Cowan was not essentially different, either externally or intellectually, from some of the rough, keen colliers of Northumberland to-day, whose recreations are divided between an ardent pursuit of outdoor sport, which customarily taken the humble form of rabbit-coursing, and a mental activity and grasp which are rarely to be found among the working people in other parts of the country.

Mr. Cowan was first elected, as a strong Radical, to share the representation of Newcastle in January, 1874, on the death of his father, who had sat as a Liberal from 1865. Though he identified himself with the cause of Irish Home Rule long before Mr. Gladstone's conversion to that policy, and though he was the ardent admirer and supporter of patriots and revolutionists such as Mazzina and Kossuth, both of whom benefited by his hospitality at Stella-hall, his principal aim and his chief ambition were to uphold, whether in Northumberland or at Westminster, the high ideals of an Imperialist England which have found greater favour of late years than was accorded to them in the period of Mr. Cowans's Parliamentary life. He was a vigorous and almost unswerving supporter of Mr. Disraeli's foreign policy. From 1880 to 1885 he fiercely opposed and condemned all humiliating proposals with regard to the Transvaal Boers, and even at that time urged in so many words that, unless England was prepared to abandon her colonies, any evasion of her duties in South Africa would bring upon her ruinous difficulties.

Mr. Cowan's election in 1885 was noteworthy as an early, perhaps a premature, attempt to bring to grief, in his own local sphere of action at any rate, the Liberal caucus system which at a later date produced the Newcastle programme and the collapse of the party. From the first he absolutely declined, as a Radical, to have anything to do with the local Radical caucus or its leaders. Though he was associated for some time with Mr. John Morley, the elect of the local association, in the representation of the city, the greatest animosity prevailed between the supporters of the two members. In 1885, for various reasons, Mr. Cowan not only flouted openly the Liberal and Radical Association of the city, but dispensed with all organised assistance, whether voluntary or hired, in the prosecution of his candidature save that of his legal election agent, preferring through the medium of public meetings, which he freely and addressed often by the method of question and answer, to appeal to the plain good sense of the community which knew him. His opponents thus challenged worked their hardest to exact a penalty at his expense, and a peculiarly bitter conflict took place. In the result Mr. Cowan was returned at the head of the poll. In an address issued a few days afterwards he expressed himself abundantly satisfied with the action of the electorate, but intimated that "the meanness, the implacability, the vindictiveness, and the personal rancour of local politicians" had become intolerable, and that he had resolved, notwithstanding the result of the contest, "not again to contest the city." Shortly afterwards he retired, not only from Parliament but from all public life, local and national, and though at that time in the full vigour of health and middle age, and though frequently pressed to reconsider his resolve, he took no further part in any way in political or municipal affairs. He had already vacated his seat as an alderman in the city council, and all other public duties were now thrown aside. His retirement from Parliament and public life was regretted by very many and understood by very few. His own declarations, however, left no doubt that it was due solely to utter disgust at the pettiness of local political machinations. The electorate of Newcastle in course of time took the same view, and for the first time in its history the city which accounted itself the most thoroughly Radical constituency in the country returned to Parliament two Conservatives.

In his retirement Mr. Cowan devoted himself to the management of his newspapers, the Newcastle Daily Chronicle and its auxiliaries, and to other private business. He carried on a daily, and evening, a weekly, and a monthly newspaper. He was considerable employer of labour in mining, brickmaking, and other directions. He was fond of the antiquities and pursuits of his native part. He married, in 1854, Jane, daughter of Mr. J. Thompson, of Fatfield, Durham. His wife died a few years ago, as did his only brother, Colonel John Cowan, a well-known sportsman. He leaves a son, Mr. Joseph Cowan, and a daughter, Miss Jane Cowan, the writer of several meritorious books, of which the best known is "Tales of Revolution and Patriotism."

Source: The Times