Harry Mews

Who was Harry Mews?

Henry George Reginald Mews was the eighth mayor of St. John's, Newfoundland and a political leader in the province.

He was born in St. John's, the son of Arthur Mews, a civil servant, and Mabel Woods, the daughter of Henry J. B. Woods, who served in the provincial cabinet and was postmaster general from 1902 to 1914. Mews was educated at the Methodist College in St. John's and served as a lieutenant with the Newfoundland Regiment during World War I. After his return, he worked with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Ontario. Mews contracted tuberculosis and was treated in New York state. He returned to St. John's in 1927.

An insurance company manager with the North American Life Assurance Company, Mews was first elected to St. John's city council in 1943 and was mayor from 1949 to 1965. He served as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party when the colony joined Canadian Confederation in 1949 and led the party in the 1949 provincial election in May losing to Joey Smallwood's Liberals and failing to win a seat in the Newfoundland House of Assembly. He was elected mayor for the first time on November 8, 1949, and stepped down as provincial party leader soon after.