- William Smithe
Infobox_President
name = William Smithe
caption = Hon. William Smithe
order = 7thPremier of British Columbia
term_start =January 29 ,1883
term_end =March 29 ,1887
predecessor =Robert Beaven
successor =Alexander Edmund Batson Davie
birth_date = birth date|1842|6|30|mf=y
birth_place =Matfen ,England
death_date =Death date and age|1887|3|28|1842|6|30
death_place = Victoria,British Columbia
party = None
spouse =
religion =|William Smithe (
Matfen June 30 ,1842 –March 28 ,1887 Victoria, British Columbia ) was aBritish Columbia politician.Smithe was born William Smith in
England and moved to Canada in his youth, settling onVancouver Island in 1862 as afarmer . In 1871, he ran in BC's first election and won a seat in the new provinciallegislature . There he added the final "e" to his name, probably to distinguish himself as clearly as possible from the colourful figure ofAmor De Cosmos .Fact|date=March 2008 De Cosmos, also then a member of the legislature, had likewise been born as "William Smith," but in a characteristically grand gesture had legally adopted instead a new name meaning "Love of the Universe."By 1875 Smithe had become the informal leader of the opposition to
Premier George Anthony Walkem 's government, but yielded the leadership toAndrew Charles Elliott . Smithe was in Elliott's short livedcabinet from 1876 to 1878 before returning to the opposition benches and again became opposition leader.In 1883, Smithe became
premier of British Columbia and initiated the "Great Potlatch" era in which governments made generous grants of public resources and land to privateentrepreneur s. He also settled disputes with the federal government which had stalled the construction of the trans-continentalCanadian Pacific Railway . Asked on one occasion whether he thought British Columbia should be annexed to the United States, he suggested instead that Washington and Oregon be annexed to British Columbia. Smithe remained premier until he died in office in 1887.External links
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5834 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
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