Haviland Club members will be sipping coffee and tea the morning of Feb. 28 to mark the 200thbirthday of George F.C. Lowden – a prominent citizen of Charlottetown with an interesting link to the club’s building.
Lowden, who was born in Pictou, N.S. on Feb. 28, 1819, had a wholesale business in Charlottetown, was a justice of the peace, and was one of the men who set up the Bank of Prince Edward Island, said Bert Christie, a trustee with the Haviland Club.
Lowden owned at least four ships registered in Charlottetown: a barque, built in 1850, named Rival, and three schooners; H Ingram built in 1850; Jenny Lind built in 1850; and Ada built in 1858.
In the Island Register for 1863, Lowden is listed as a wholesale dealer in flour, tea and tobacco
manufacturing on Queen Street.
Lowden died suddenly in 1864, leaving Ester Lowden a wealthy widow.
Ester later built a home on the corner of Haviland Street and Water Street which has served as the Haviland Club since the early 1990s.
The Haviland Club is a social club for men and women described as a safe and comfortable place to have fun. Live entertainment and bridge are stables of the club.
To learn more about the club, visit havilandclub.com.
