Hanson Taylor Dowell

Who was Hanson Taylor Dowell?

Hanson Taylor Dowell, QC was a Canadian educator, lawyer, judge and politician. He was closely associated with minor hockey throughout most of his life, and spent one term as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.

Born in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, the son of the late George Harris Dowell and Elizabeth Gertrude Dowell, he received his early education at Elmsdale Public School and completed his high school education at the Halifax Academy. He received a teaching diploma from the Normal College in Truro in 1924 and taught school for several years. After spending a summer as a lay preacher in Alberta, he returned to school and received his law degree from Dalhousie University in 1930. He was admitted to the Bar on June 13, 1930. He moved to Middleton and set up a law practice in 1931 which he ran for 29 years. During that period he held several offices: Stipendiary Magistrate for the Town of Middleton, Stipendiary Magistrate for Annapolis County and Registrar of Probate for Annapolis County.

A member of the Progressive Conservative party, on June 7, 1960 he was elected as a Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for the District of Annapolis East.