Charles Martin Bowman was an Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 businessman and political figure. He represented Bruce North

Bruce North

Bruce North was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1935. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which divided the county of Bruce into two ridings: Bruce North and Bruce South.-Geography:The North...

 from 1898 to 1914 and Bruce West

Bruce West

Bruce West was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1882 to 1904. This riding was created in 1882 from parts of Bruce North and Bruce South ridings....

 from 1914 to 1919 as a Liberal member.

He was born in St. Jacobs

St. Jacobs, Ontario

The community of St. Jacobs is located in southwest Ontario, just north of Waterloo in Woolwich Township, Waterloo Region. It is a popular location for tourism, due to its Mennonite heritage and retail focus. The Conestogo River, which powered the village's original gristmill, runs through the...

, Canada West, the son of Isaac Erb Bowman

Isaac Erb Bowman

Isaac Erb Bowman was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented Waterloo North in the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal member from 1867 to 1878 and from 1887 to 1896....

, and educated there and in Berlin (later Kitchener

Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

). He entered his father's tanning

Tanning

Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...

 business and set up a tannery in Southampton

Southampton, Ontario

Southampton is a community of approximately 3083 people on the shores of Lake Huron in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada, located at the mouth of the Saugeen River....

 in 1882. After a fire destroyed that business, he purchased a tannery at Port Elgin

Port Elgin, Ontario

Port Elgin is a community in the Ontario municipality of Saugeen Shores. Close to MacGregor Point Provincial Park in Bruce County, the community has several beaches on Lake Huron....

. He went on to operate a furniture business in Southampton. He was also a president of the Great Lakes Dredging Company. With James Conmee

James Conmee

James Conmee was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented Algoma West from 1885 to 1902 and Port Arthur and Rainy River from 1902 to 1904 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and Thunder Bay and Rainy River in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1911 as a Liberal...

, Bowman was awarded a contract for construction on the Algoma Central Railway

Algoma Central Railway

The Algoma Central Railway is a railway in Northern Ontario that operates between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst, with a branch line to Michipicoten. The area served by the railway is sparsely populated, with few roads...

. In 1886, he married Louisa Hesse. Bowman served on the town council for Southampton and also served as reeve for the town.