John McConkey Mowbray was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1895. Mowbray attended Johns Hopkins University, where he was a part of Beta Theta Pi. In 1911, he took a job as an accounting clerk at the Roland Park Company while he was still in school. He graduated from Hopkins with a Bachelors of Arts, and went on to military service. He served in World War One as an officer stationed in France, and then transitioned into the active National Guard. Mowbray earned the rank of major and commander of the 1st Battalion of the 110th Field Artillery Regimen by 1935, and he also played polo for the 110th Regimen team. In 1920, Mowbray was working in sales at the Roland Park Company as a full-time employee. By 1935, Mowbray was working as the general sales manager of the Roland Park Company.

John Mowbray was the president of the Roland Park Company from 1935 to 1952. During his presidency, he also headed the Belvedere Hotel Company from 1942 to 1947. From 1952 to 1956, Mowbray was the president of the Roland Park Realty Company and the Maryland Management Company. Mowbray also played a very important role in many civic groups as well such as the State Planning Commission, the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Housing, and the Greater Baltimore Committee’s planning council. He headed the Flight Blight Fund, Inc. and the Waverly Advisory Commission. John Mowbray was also the former president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Baltimore, and was on the boards of both the International Real Estate Federation and the National Association of Real Estate. Mowbray was also the first vice president of the American Society of Real Estate Counselors.

John Mowbray was inducted into the National Housing Hall of Fame in 1979, six years before his death. Mowbray died on January 24th, 1985 at the age of ninety.