John Kensington Downes (1879
Born in Platt Bridge, Lancashire, England, he was educated at St. Mark's College in London. Downes taught English and history at Diocesan College in Pretoria, South Africa, later returning to England and teaching in Suffolk and Somersetshire. In 1912, he moved to Winnipeg. Downes served with the 184th Battalion and later as an officer with the 11th Canadian Railway Corps during World War I. After the war, he worked for the Soldiers Settlement Board.
Downes sought a return to the legislature in the 1941 provincial election, running as an independent opposing the province's coalition government. He was a marginal political force by this time, and finished next-to-last in a field of twenty-seven candidates.
He died at Deer Lodge hospital in Winnipeg after a short illness.