You had me searching around as well but this is all I found. It mentions people gathering there when the parliament burned which validates the family story. I hadn't seen this article before. Also, there is a picture of the Bowles Lunch in Ottawa if anyone wants to see that. The picture shows a sign for a Bowles Billiard Academy upstairs so probably the same setup as the Hamilton outlet. "The Bowles Lunch on Sparks St. was often frequented by journalists, sports figures and businessmen. Some who later became parliamentarians also came here, such as Norman Rogers, secretary to Prime Minister Mackenzie King, and George McIlraith, who became a minister and later a senator. Reportedly some Ottawa residents who watched the first Parliament Building burn on a cold night in early 1916 went there for warmth and the sharing of experiences. Ottawa's longest-serving mayor, J.E. Stanley Lewis often lunched there. Lewis was one of the founding members of the Ottawa Knockers' Club, a charitable organisation made of prominent Ottawa businessmen who used to "knock" the government. The Club was founded in the Sparks St. Bowles Lunch in 1942 and commemorated by a brass plaque in a lunchroom table. Ottawa's Bowles Lunch was taken over during the 1950s by Scott's Restaurants, which also purchased the Toronto Bowles Lunchrooms about the same time." > > From: Randi Meetzen <meetzen@sbcglobal.net> > Date: 2005/07/02 Sat PM 09:49:26 CDT > To: BOWLES-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: Bowles Lunch Question > > Hi Tom, I knew I could count on you! > There is a website for a town called Hamilton in Canada that had a Bowles Lunch and Bowles Billiard Academy on King Street. Also the Museum of London displays a Mug/Tankard which says Bowles Lunch Limited across it. I did a Google search and Bowles Lunch was mentioned in passing in numerous articles ,however there were no complete stories which I came across. > I enjoyed your "first hand" stories. Thank you. Randi Bowles-Meentzen > > Tom LaPorte <tlaporte@mts.net> wrote: > I have one Bowles family story about the restaurant line. William Cochrane Bowles (my line) had been Chief Clerk of the Canadian Parliament when he retired in 1915. In 1916, the Parliament Buildings burned down. When William saw the flames from his home he rushed to the building but was not able to enter to fight the fire. He retreated to Bowles Lunch where he watched the building burn and where he helped to put together a crisis team to establish a new government center which got to work that same day. > > > > > > From: Randi Meetzen > > Date: 2005/07/02 Sat PM 04:52:53 CDT > > To: BOWLES-L@rootsweb.com > > Subject: Bowles Lunch Question > > > > I have been reading a bit about a chain of restaraunts in Canada called Bowles Lunch. Are there any Canadian Bowles researchers ,maybe Mr. LaPorte, who have some info on this and which Bowles line were the owners? > > > > > > Randi Bowles-Meentzen > > > > > > Tom LaPorte > > > > Randi Bowles-Meentzen > > Tom LaPorte