L. C. Owen was born on 1 November 1822 in Charlottetown, the son of Thomas Owen adn Ann Campbell. As a young man he spent several years with the mercantile business of James Peake and Co. of Charlottetown before establishing his own shipbuilding enterprise. He maintained his involvement with this industry for most of his life, much of the time in conjunction with his brother-in-law, William Welsh, in a prominent Island firm known as Welsh and Owen. He was also involved in many other business ventures and served as a Director of the Merchants Bank of Prince Edward Island, the Charlottetown Steam Navigation Company, and the Marine Insurance Company.

In addition, L. C. Owen was prominent in the political history of his time. Upon his father

Thomas Owen was born at Malpeque, Prince Edward Island, on 12 October 1795, the son of Arthur Owen and Elizabeth Lee who had emigrated to Prince Edward Island from Devonshire England in 1780 and settled near Alberton. Thomas was engaged in mercantile pursuits for many years and also served as the postmaster general of P.E.I. for eighteen years prior to his death in 1860. He married Ann Campbell (d. 1892), daughter of George Campbell, master mariner with whom he had 12 children including his eldest son Lemuel Cambridge Owen.

Welsh and Owen was a prominent mercantile business in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, through the latter half of the nineteenth century. The partners, William Welsh and Lemuel C. Owen, contracted ships to be built in various shipyards across the Island. The largest of these was the "L. C. Owen" at 527 tons, built in 1868. These vessels were often sailed to England with a cargo or ballast and were then sold in that country. The firm also maintained a small fleet of these vessels to carry on their shipping business. Between 1871 and 1880 Welsh and Owen dominated the shipping business of the Island along with Peake Bros., J. Duncan & Co., and the Longworth family. After 1880 the business, along with other shipbuilding enterprises dwindled even though the firm had diversified into the building of steamships.