Joseph Cowen

Sir Joseph Cowen (10 February 1800 – 19 December 1873)

Business career Cowen was first apprenticed as a blacksmith in Winlaton, County Durham, at age 19, before later becoming a colliery owner, director of a shipping company, first secretary of the Blacksmiths' Friendly Society, and an original gentleman of the Four & Twenty.

He was also a life member and chairman of the River Tyne improvement commission, helping make the river navigable for sea-going ships, for which he was knighted on 14 March 1872. He held the seat until his death in 1873, when he was succeeded by his son at the ensuing by-election.

Death Cowen died at his home, Stella Hall, on 19 December 1873. He was buried in St Paul's Churchyard in Winlaton.