John Downes Owens

John Downs Owens (1809 - November 26, 1866) was a doctor, a representative of miners and a politician in colonial Victoria (Australia), a member of the Legislative Council of Victoria, and then the Legislative Assembly of Victoria. Owens was born in Shropshire, England, in the family of the son of surgeon John Owens and his wife Martha Owens, nee Downes. Owens Jr. became a doctor of medicine in 1840. In 1850, he sailed to Sydney, then in 1852 went to Melbourne, and then to Bendigo, where he founded medical practice. Owens was appointed member of the Legislative Council of Victoria from November 5, 1855 until the original Council was abolished in March 1856. Owens was a member of the Victoria Legislative Assembly in Loddon from November 1856 to August 1859; and for Manduranga from August 1861 to July 1863. Owens died on November 26, 1866 in Windsor, Victoria, and was buried in St. Kilda Cemetery.