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Although physically
handicapped, Irving B. Howatt has risen to a position of distinguished
prominence as a representative of the Edmonton bar and the consensus of
public opinion names him with the foremost barristers of Alberta. He was
born in Prince Edward Island, in 1875, and his great-great-grandfather
in the paternal line was a native of Scotland. He is the son of Josiah
Howatt, who was born in Prince Edward Island, in 1851, and his
grandfather, Charles Howatt, was also a native of that province. In 1874
Josiah Howatt married Janie Best and they have always resided in their
native island, the former having reached the age of seventy-one years.
After completing the
curriculum of the public schools, Irving B. Howatt enrolled as a student
at the Prince of Wales College in Prince Edward Island and graduated in
1895. The next three years were devoted to teaching school in that
locality and he then matriculated at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova
Scotia, which he attended for four years, winning the B. A. degree in
1902. The following year was spent as a teacher in the schools of his
native island, after which he entered the office of a prominent
barrister, Hon. A. A. McLean of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island,
where he pursued his law studies for four years, being called to the bar
in 1907. In 1908 the University of Dalhousie conferred upon him the
degree of Master of Arts. In the same year he came to Alberta and became
associated with the law firm of Messrs. Emery, Newell, Bolton & Ford in
the city of Edmonton, where he remained until 1918.
Mr. Howatt is a veteran
of the World war. After several rejections, owing to the fact that one
of his eyes was sightless, he finally secured admission to the service
and in June, 1918, became a private in the Engineers Corps. In December,
1918, he went to Siberia with the Two Hundred Sixty-sixth Battalion,
which formed part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and in 1919 he
returned to Canada, being demobilized in May of that year.
From May, 1919, until
August, 1921, Irving B. Howatt was acting attorney-general of Alberta
and in the latter year he was created a King's Counsel. In 1921 he was
joined by his brother, Bruce D., who is now the junior member of the
firm of Howatt & Howatt and they have successfully handled important
litigated interests.
Apart from the law Mr.
Howatt has business interests, being a director in the Ingenika Gold
Mining Company. He is also a member of a syndicate that owns and
controls valuable mining properties in the Hudson's Bay Mountain in the
province of British Columbia.
He is an able exponent of
the profession and success has come to him because of his close
reasoning, his keen and logical argument, his correct application of all
legal principles and his ability to present his contention in the
strongest possible light.
He is a Master Mason and
his political support is given to the Liberal party, while his religious
views are in accord with the doctrines and teachings of the Methodist
church. He has ever borne in mind the old adage "The harder the conflict
the greater the triumph," and his indomitable spirit has enabled him to
overcome all obstacles and difficulties in his path. He has demonstrated
that he possesses exceptional qualifications as a barrister and while
devoted to the interest of his clients he never forgets that he owes a
still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. Devotion to duty is
one of his outstanding characteristics and he measures up to the full
stature of honorable, upright manhood. |
