Edward Porter Cowan was a wine and spirit merchant who served as Mayor of Belfast for two consecutive years.

Born in 1842, Edward was the son of Samuel Cowan, of Cromac House, Ballynafeigh. He attended the Royal Academical Institution and served an apprenticeship at Burns & Co, linen merchants, at Queen Street in Belfast. On the death of his uncle, William Cowan, Edward took over a wine and spirit business at Church Lane Upper.

In 1873 Cowan was elected as alderman for the Cromac ward. He was a Liberal Unionist, a political party that had broken away from the Liberal Party. He was the Lord Lieutenant of County Antrim and was knighted during his first term as Mayor. Cowan also served as a Borough Magistrate and as a Deputy Lieutenant for County Down.

Cowan was chairman of the Ulster Reform Club, which still meets at its original premises on Royal Avenue. Cowan acted as Chairman of the Board of Superintendence of the Ulster Bank and served as director of the Great Northern Railway.

He died in March 1890, aged forty-eight , from typhoid.