Hanson Taylor Dowell was a Canadian ice hockey administrator and politician.
56 Facts About Hanson Dowell
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Hanson Dowell served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1945 to 1947, and was the first person from the Maritimes to serve on the national executive.
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Hanson Dowell sought to have the Canadian definition of amateur recognized at the World Championships and the Olympic Games for the benefit of Canada's national team, and negotiated the merger of the International Ice Hockey Association into the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace.
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Hanson Dowell served as president of the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association from 1936 to 1940, and later as treasurer of the Maritimes and the Nova Scotia Hockey Associations for a combined 30 years.
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Hanson Dowell was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly as a Conservative Party member for Annapolis East, then resigned his seat when appointed a stipendiary magistrate.
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Hanson Dowell was later elevated to judge on the trial division of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, and was one of the founding members of the Western Counties Bar Association.
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Hanson Dowell was among the first recipients of the Order of Merit established by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1962, was named a Queen's Counsel in recognition of his legal career, and was inducted into the builder category of Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1980.
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Hanson Taylor Dowell was born on September 14,1906, in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, to parents George and Elizabeth Dowell.
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Hanson Dowell completed elementary school in Elmsdale, and secondary school at the Halifax Christian Academy, then graduated from the Nova Scotia Teachers College in 1924.
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Hanson Dowell was a schoolteacher in Nova Scotia during the late 1920s and spent a summer as a lay preacher in Alberta.
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Hanson Dowell graduated from Dalhousie Law School with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1930.
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Hanson Dowell was called to the bar on June 13,1930, then relocated to Middleton where he practiced law from 1931 to 1962.
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Hanson Dowell expanded his hockey involvement beyond Nova Scotia and served as president of Maritime Amateur Hockey Association from 1936 to 1940.
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Hanson Dowell was named to the CAHA's resolutions committee in 1937.
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Hanson Dowell recommended changing the Allan Cup playoffs between the MAHA and the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association in 1939 and onwards, from a best-of-three format into a best-of-five format.
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Hanson Dowell sought for Allan Cup finals games to be hosted locally if a team from the Maritimes were the Eastern Canada champion.
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In 1939, Hanson Dowell argued for an extension to the deadline to establish residency, and stated that many teams in the Maritimes depended on natural ice surfaces and few leagues began play before January.
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Hanson Dowell felt that amateurs players would be unwilling to sign a contract, and sought for more details to be sent to CAHA branches for discussion.
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Hanson Dowell was elected second vice-president of the CAHA in April 1940, and became the first person from the Maritimes to serve on the CAHA executive.
20.
Hanson Dowell suspended several ineligible players when the league failed to complete the proper transfer requirements.
21.
Hanson Dowell was elected first vice-president of the CAHA in April 1942.
22.
Hanson Dowell was named to CAHA committees which planned to implement ice hockey rules more similar to the NHL, and to discuss development payments from the NHL for amateur players signed by professional clubs.
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Hanson Dowell was named a trustee of the Colonel J Burke Trophy, awarded for the Eastern Canada intermediate ice hockey championship.
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Hanson Dowell was elected president of the CAHA on April 17,1945, to succeed Frank Sargent, and became the first person from the Maritimes or Atlantic Canada to be elected president.
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Hanson Dowell declared that any player discharged from a military team was now free agent and could play where he resided without a transfer being required.
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Hanson Dowell expected increased demand for Canadian-born players by leagues based in England, Scotland and the United States.
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Hanson Dowell anticipated that the focus of the upcoming general meeting in 1946 would discuss methods for the CAHA to regulate the international transfer of players and prevent rosters in Canada from being depleted.
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Hanson Dowell felt that most of Selke's points had merit and generally approved of the concept, since leaving players in junior hockey until age 20 would be better overall across Canada.
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Hanson Dowell attended the 1946 LIHG congress and sought to standardize playing rules for international ice hockey.
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Hanson Dowell then announced the Edmonton Junior Canadians were to attend the 1947 Ice Hockey World Championships, pending an exhibition tour in Europe to cover the team's travel expenses.
31.
Hanson Dowell planned to attend the 1947 LIHG congress and propose that the LIHG merge with the International Ice Hockey Association, providing that three demands by the CAHA were accepted:.
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Hanson Dowell sailed to Europe aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth along with Cecil Duncan, who had previously been a vice-president of the LIHG.
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Hanson Dowell announced plans for the Sweden men's national ice hockey team to play an exhibition tour Canada in advance of the 1948 Winter Olympics.
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Hanson Dowell declared that the 1947 finals to be profitable, and showed that spectators in Western Canada would support the national championship.
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Hanson Dowell was succeeded by Al Pickard as president at the 1947 general meeting.
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Hanson Dowell was the past-president of the CAHA from 1947 to 1950.
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Hanson Dowell remained active in attending the annual general meetings, and oversaw the senior hockey playoffs in Eastern Canada on behalf of the CAHA.
38.
Hanson Dowell returned to the MAHA executive in 1956, when he was elected secretary-treasurer of the association.
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Hanson Dowell was a Conservative Party candidate in the 1960 Nova Scotia general election for the newly established district of Annapolis East.
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Hanson Dowell was elected to the 47th General Assembly of Nova Scotia by defeating Henry Hicks, the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Party candidate.
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Hanson Dowell took his seat in a majority government led by Robert Stanfield, and was speculated by the Canadian Press as a candidate for a cabinet position due to his background as a lawyer and as a prominent hockey executive.
42.
Hanson Dowell resigned his seat for Annapolis East in February 1962, when he was appointed a stipendiary magistrate for Middleton and Annapolis County.
43.
Hanson Dowell was appointed a judge for the county court of Nova Scotia third district in 1963, a judge for the Nova Scotia divorce court in 1966, and a judge for the trial division of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in 1968.
44.
Hanson Dowell served as a registrar for the Annapolis County probate court, was one of the founding members of the Western Counties Bar Association, and retired from his judicial career in 1981.
45.
Hanson Dowell continued as the secretary-treasurer of the MAHA until 1968, when the New Brunswick Amateur Hockey Association separated and became its own CAHA branch.
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Hanson Dowell remained as treasurer of the MAHA until 1974, when it was dissolved and replaced by the Nova Scotia Hockey Association and the Prince Edward Island Hockey Association.
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Hanson Dowell served as treasurer of the NSHA until retiring in 1986.
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Hanson Dowell was married to Marjorie Alice Mosher, with whom he had three sons and two daughters.
49.
Hanson Dowell served as a member of the Middleton Fire Department for 15 years, and was partner in sponsoring the Middleton Cardinals which competed in the Halifax and District Baseball League.
50.
Hanson Dowell was a member of the Middleton Tennis Club, and served on the executive of the Middleton Curling Club.
51.
Hanson Dowell died at home in Middleton on September 23,2000, and was interred in the Elmsdale Cemetery.
52.
Hanson Dowell received the AHAUS citation award in 1950, for contributions to developing ice hockey in the United States.
53.
Hanson Dowell was among the first recipients of the Order of Merit established by the CAHA in 1962, for contributions to the game in Canada, and was made a life member of the CAHA in May 1973.
54.
Hanson Dowell was named a Queen's Counsel in recognition of his legal career in Nova Scotia.
55.
Hanson Dowell was a life member of the Middleton Curling Club, and was inducted into the builder category of Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Middleton Sport Heritage Wall of Fame in 1998.
56.
Hanson Dowell was posthumously inducted into the Truro Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.