Background
He was born in Saint John"s, the son of Arthur Mews, a civil servant, and Mabel Woods, the daughter of Henry J. B. Woods, who served in the provincial cabinet and was postmaster general from 1902 to 1914.
He was born in Saint John"s, the son of Arthur Mews, a civil servant, and Mabel Woods, the daughter of Henry J. B. Woods, who served in the provincial cabinet and was postmaster general from 1902 to 1914.
Mews was educated at the Methodist College in Saint John"s and served as a lieutenant with the Newfoundland Regiment during World War I. After his return, he worked with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Ontario.
Mews contracted tuberculosis and was treated in New York state. He returned to Saint John"s in 1927. An insurance company manager with the North American Life Assurance Company, Mews was first elected to Saint John"s city council in 1943 and was mayor from 1949 to 1965.
He was elected mayor for the first time on November 8, 1949, and stepped down as provincial party leader soon after.
During Mews" tenure as mayor, the city undertook a slum clearance program in its downtown and built public housing in various parts of the city. He also oversaw the creation of a large suburban development in the northeast of Saint John"son
In 1957, council created the Saint John"s Transportation Commission, taking over the city"s privately owned bus system. During his term as mayor, the city had accumulated a substantial fund which was used for the construction of a new city hall in 1969.
Mews was married twice: to Vera Olga Sparling in 1926 and to Mary Summer in 1958.