Fonds consists of Department of Agriculture records, including letters received by the Minister of Agriculture and officials of the department, 1869-1892, letterbooks of semi-official and private letters written by Lowe, 1871-1899, subject files, 1866-1906. Personal business papers, including letters received relating to personal and family affairs, 1848-1911, letterbooks of personal and business letters, 1855-1907, drafts of letters sent relating to newspaper and periodical articles, subscriptions and business affairs, 1901-1911, Lowe farm and other Manitoba properties, correspondence and documents, 1878-1907, British American Bank Note Company Limited, 1867-1901, letterbook relating to British American Advertising Company and E.H. Parsons and Company, 1860-1868, and subject files relating to Lowe's financial, legal, and business transactions, 1815-1908.
Fonds also consists of photographs of the Lowe farm in Manitoba.
Fonds also consists of oversize records, located in horizontal storage (vols. 45-49).
Lowe, John, 1824-1911 : John Lowe emigrated to Canada from England in 1841 and became a journalist. He worked as a reporter and assistant editor for the Montreal Gazette from 1848 to 1851, as editor of the Toronto Colonist from 1851 to 1853, and, in partnership with Lieutenant-Colonel Brown Chamberlin, as publisher and editor of the Montreal Gazette from 1853 to 1870. Lowe and Chamberlin also co-published the Year Book and Almanac of Canada for several years. In 1870 Lowe entered the public service and from 1888 to 1895 was Deputy-Minister of Agriculture.
After his retirement in 1895 he was employed by the Department on special assignments. Between 1875 and 1882 Lowe and his brother, James, acquired large quantities of land in southern Manitoba, and in 1894 they formed a company for the purpose of irrigating the land. However, the venture was unsuccessful and eventually the land came into the possession of G.B. Burland of Toronto. MG29-E18 and Morgan, Canadian Men and Women of the Times, 1912, p. 668.
