william smithe

William Smithe (June 30, 1842-March 28, 1887) was a British Columbia politician. Smithe was born in England but moved to Canada in his youth and settled on Vancouver Island in 1862 as a farmer. In 1871 he ran in BC's first election and won a seat in the new provincial legislature. By 1875 he became the informal leader of the opposition to Premier George Anthony Walkem's government but yielded the leadership to Andrew Charles Elliott. Smithe was in Elliott's short lived cabinet from 1876 to 1878 before returning to the opposition benches and again became opposition leader. In 1883, Smithe became premier of the province and initiated the Great Potlatch era in which governments made generous grants of public resources and land to private entrepreneurs. He also settled disputes with the federal government which had stalled the construction of the trans-continental Canadian Pacific Railway. He remained premier until he died in office in 1887.

Preceded by:
Robert Beaven
1882-1883

Premier of British Columbia
1883-1887

Succeeded by:
Alexander Edmund Batson Davie
1887-1889

Smithe, William Smithe, William Smithe, William

<< Previous

Word Browser

Next >>

michael brandon
force of nature
open list
pompeius strabo
invasion of astro monster
inheritance (star trek)
ghidorah, the three headed monster
full sky astrometric mapping explorer
popular democratic party (canada)
mothra vs godzilla
fleetboston financial

space interferometry mission
foo fighters
abel meeropol
bbc radio stoke
carl ditters von dittersdorf
bbc wm
be here now
dadar
yellowjacks
germany in the eurovision song contest
bbc wm (coventry & warwickshire)

how to lose a guy in 10 days
widelife
standing on the shoulder of giants
edward everett hale
tawfiq bin attash
giuseppe bonno
against all odds
familiar to millions
memorial (society)
uss alliance (1877)
press gallery

royal saudi air force
imparja
the gandharvas
reversal film
laurie oakes
cur1350
callirrhoe (moon)
potential output
hms minerva (f45)
edward s. herman
sweet