Stove Pipe Dreams and Other Schemes

Ian Mattey
Jun 1
7 min read

The Story of the Montreal Prowses

What follows is a long overdue dive into the Montreal Prowse line inspired by conversation with and information from Alexandra Collard in 2021. Alexandra is the great-great-granddaughter of George Fabes Prowse.

George Fabes Prowse - From Plymouth to Montreal via Halifax

George Fabes Prowse, b. 5 Dec 1805 at Devonport, Plymouth, Devon was the industrious second son of Roger Prowse 1777-1835 and Sybella Fabes 1774-1829. When still a young lad he emigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada where he set to work as a tin and copper smith. It was also there that he met Halifax born Sarah Ann Neal, b. 5 Jun 1805.

In 1829 he founded the Geo. Prowse Range Co. (see advertisement from 1933 below) and relocated to Montreal, where he married Sarah on 7 April 1829.

Prowse ranges are of a significance greater than the thing they are. They were part of the history of the modernization of Canada and opening of the Canadian West in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The building of the transcontinental railway, completed in 1885, allowed these ranges and other domestic goods, even whole house-kits, to be easily shipped to homesteaders to the West. Without the railway and products like these progress would have been much more difficult - and much slower - and time was of the essence due to an overshadowing American presence and interest in taking territory under Manifest Destiny.

In early 1851 he patented the 'Prowsian Hot Air Cooking Range or Furnace'. If one is wondering why the delay from 1829 to 1851 to patent his invention, it is likely because patents did not become a reality in Canada until 1848.

Some historical and geographical background seems appropriate at this point:

Montreal lies at the junction of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers, the latter of which is a very large, navigable, passage from the Atlantic into the Great Lakes and ultimately western North America. A Huron indigenous settlement called Hochelaga was there when Jacques Cartier visited it in 1535. It's location as the western-most point on the St. Lawrence that normally didn't freeze over in winter, made it a critically important port and thus capital of commerce in the early history of Canada. For this very reason it made sense for George to build his company there instead of Halifax. In George's time Montreal was by far the largest city in Canada. It wasn't until the mid-1900's that Toronto eclipsed Montreal in population.
Montreal was (and still is) an ethnic and religious mosaic. Of course French Canadians are the core population but there were large populations of English, Irish, Scottish, and later on Jewish, Italian, Greek, and other nationalities. In general, these groups kept to their own in terms of the areas they lived in, who they socialized with, and who they did business with, so it is no surprise that the Prowse family lived in the the English area.
George's era, and that of his children, was a profound period in the history of Canada leading to Confederation in 1867 and the opening of the West. Individual territories existed from 1791 to 1841, each with their own connection to the British Crown. Montreal was in Lower Canada, Toronto in Upper Canada (so named for the direction of flow in the St. Lawrence) and there were the Maritime Provinces as well. In 1841 the Crown merged Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, with Montreal in the Canada East region. In 1867 the country of Canada was confederated, with Canada East becoming Quebec and Canada West becoming Ontario, and the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.

George Fabes and Sarah had seven children, all born in Montreal, from 1836 through 1846. Unfortunately, in all likelihood, the Prowse surname in this line came to an end within a few generations. Of the seven, five were male, however three of those, William Henry Neal Prowse, Albert Fabes Prowse, and James Jeffrey Prowse all died in infancy. The two surviving sons were their eldest child, George Roger Prowse and Henry Lewis Prowse. They also had two daughters: Anna Sibella Prowse and Charlotte Chapman Prowse.

The 1862 Canada East Census reveals a couple of interesting things: 1) George's occupation is listed as 'Gent', while George Roger is listed as 'Hardware', which suggests that George Roger was already at the helm of the Range Co; and 2) it seems there are three other Prowses (handwriting on document difficult to decipher) listed at the residence, including Emma, 24 b. England; Louisa, 15 b. Montreal; and L'ddia (sic), 8 b. Montreal.

Sarah Ann Prowse (Neal) died 2 Jan 1871. George Fabes Prowse died 22 August 1883 at the home of his son George Roger Prowse a few days after a fall down the stairs. They, along with most of their children and George Roger's children are buried and/or memorialized at Mont Royal Cemetery, Outremont, Montreal.

George Roger Prowse - Building on his Father's Legacy

George Roger Prowse was the eldest of George Fabes and Sarah Ann's children. Born 31 March 1836 in Montreal, Census records reveal that he spent his entire life there, with one notable exception: in 1862, on the 20th of August, he married his first cousin, Mary Alicia Chapman, at Croydon St. John the Baptist Church, in Surrey, England. The couple returned to Montreal where they soon started a family, having three sons and three daughters between 1863 and 1879.

Overtime he took over the reigns from his father of the stove manufacturing business as well as the store in Montreal. The 1871 and 1881 Canada Censuses lists him as a 'Merchant'.

In the early 1900's he began plans to build a large building on University Avenue in Montreal to house both the manufacturing of the ranges and a showroom for them. Unfortunately, he died 26 Mar 1910 never seeing his plans come to fruition in 1913. Follow this link for a description of the building.

Not much can be found about the history of the company and who continued to run it but there is some evidence that it built another new factory and showroom in 1947 and continued at least into the 1950's. Certainly, none of Alicia and George Roger Prowse's six children were at the helm, as they largely dispersed from Montreal:

George William (1863-1941) - Married London-born Florence Baylis in 1890 at Montreal. By 1895 they were living in the US - daughter Florence born at Medford, Massachusetts. By the 1900 US Census he was listed as an electrician at Providence, Rhode Island and in 1930 a Real Estate Agent there. Died in Providence, RI in 1941 but buried in the family plot in Mont-Royal Cemetery, Montreal.
Henry J Prowse (1865-?) - disappears after the 1881 Census, age 16.
Charles Chapman Prowse (1866-1916) - emigrated to Iowa, where he wed divorcée Josephine C. Barttro in 1896. The 1900 US Census lists him as a Railroad Conductor. Became a 'Fruit Agent' by 1905 Iowa State Census. 1911 Canada Census - back in Montreal. Died in 1916 in Kelowna, BC, Canada - an area he was instrumental in developing for fruit orchards. His house there is a Heritage Site.
Mary Alicia Prowse (1869-1948) and Georgiana Elsworth Prowse (1872-1956) lived in Montreal their entire lives and never married.
Florence Catherine Prowse (1879-1958). Married Thomas Maguire 1906 at Montreal. By 1911 Canada Census living in Toronto, Ontario. Died in Toronto in 1958.

Henry Lewis Prowse - The Other Son

Henry was born 1844 at Montreal. His early years were spent there. In 1867, age 23, he wed American-born Sallice 'Sallie' Winpenny at St James the Apostle Church in Montreal. He worked for the family business as well, being listed, like his elder brother, as a 'Merchant' in the 1881 Canada Census. Henry and Sallie had three daughters.

By 1891 he and his family were living in St. Alban's Ward, York West (Toronto), Ontario. He was again listed as a 'Merchant'. However, by the time of the 1900 US Census the family was living in Buffalo, New York, having emigrated in 1895. Henry died in 1907 at Buffalo but was buried in the family plot in Mont-Royal Cemetery, Montreal.

Anna Sibella Prowse - The Importance of Marrying Well

Anna was born in 1839 at Montreal. In June 1863 married Samuel Hopper Brown of Manhattan, New York on 3 Jun 1863 at Christ Anglican Church in Montreal. Samuel and Anna had two children: Annie Sibella in 1864 and Samuel b. 11 Mar 1866 at NYC - d. 27 Jun 1942 at Seattle WA. Unfortunately Anna died shortly after giving birth to Samuel.

This is the line that Alexandra Collard comes from.

Samuel Hopper Brown, Sr. remarried - to Jane Drury in 1869 at Boston, Massachusetts.

Per Alexandra Collard, 9 Apr 2024: "Samuel Hopper Brown, Sr. came from a line of famous Quakers. His aunt (Abby Hopper Gibbons) was a nurse in the Civil war who helped slaves escape by putting them in coffins with Union soldiers. Her father, (Isaac Hopper) was called "The Father of the Underground Railroad". My grandfather was raised by Jane Drury (who was from a wealthy Boston family). She is often cited as his mother. She was his mother in every way but biological. My grandfather lost all his wealth when he married a dance hall girl in Colorado. She and a con man took all his money. He went to the Alaska gold rush to try and regain his money, but never did."

Charlotte Chapman Prowse - Boston Bound

Charlotte was born in 1841 at Montreal, the fifth child of George Fabes Prowse and Sarah Neal.

Circa 1863 she married married in Montreal George Henry Matthews of Boston in and moved there. Their first child was stillborn in October 1865. The couple had five more children, all born in the Boston area. Daughter Sarah, born 1871, died at age 5. Two of the children wound up back in Canada in their later lives.

Charlotte died in 1894 and is buried in Winthrop Cemetery, Suffolk, Massachusetts.