William Alexander (Smith) De Cosmos (1825 - 1897)

Born 20 Aug 1825 in Windsor, Hants, Nova Scotia

Ancestors

Died 4 Jul 1897 at age 71 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

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Preceded by
John McCreight

2nd Premier of British Columbia
December 23, 1872 – February 9, 1874

Succeeded by
George Anthony Walkem

Biography

Amor (Smith) De Cosmos is/was a significant British Columbian.

Amor (Smith) De Cosmos is Notable.

Amor (Smith) De Cosmos is a person of National Historic Significance..

Armor De Cosmos was born as William Alexander Smith on 20 August 1825 in Windsor, Hants County, Nova Scotia the son of Jesse Smith and Charlotte Esther McKievers. He had his name legally changed in 1854 trying for "Lover of the Universe".

Amor De Cosmos played a major role in bringing British Columbia into Confederation. He promoted union with Canada through his newspaper and, as a founding member of the Confederation League, helped organize the Yale Conference that formalized the demands for union. For a time he held seats in both the provincial and federal legislatures, and served as British Columbia's premier from 1872 to 1874

Premier of British Columbia

John McCreight resigned in 1872 on a motion of non-confidence, and on December 23, 1872, Trutch asked De Cosmos to form a new government as Premier. De Cosmos populated his cabinet with reformers, mostly born in North America, many of whom would come to dominate provincial politics for a generation. His government pursued an agenda of political reform, economic expansion, and the development of public institutions — especially schools. De Cosmos also focused on advancing the completion of the transcontinental railway promised under the Terms of Union. It was, however, De Cosmos' attempt to alter the Terms of Union in order to obtain monetary guarantees from the federal government to complete a dry dock at Esquimalt that eventually led to accusations of impropriety, and ended his provincial political career. He speculated heavily in land and in Texada Island Iron mines, which brought further criticism, as he was a public official. Thus he ended his tenure as Premier on February 9, 1874.

Death

Amor De Cosmos passed away on 4 July 1897 in Victoria, British Columbia ^[1]

^[2] and is buried in Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria.

Sources

1. ↑ "British Columbia Death Registrations," online database with images. Entry for Amor DeCosmos; Registration Number: 1897-09-010980, Vcitoria, 1897-07-04, Age at Death: 71. Not digitized. http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy Royal British Columbia Museum: BC Archives (royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/genealogy : accessed August 17, 2020).
2. ↑ "British Columbia Death Registrations, 1872-1986; 1992-1993", database, FamilySearch ( 8 November 2017), Amor De Cosmos, 04 Jul 1897, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

See also:

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 17 August 2020), memorial page for Amor De Cosmos (20 Aug 1825–4 Jul 1897), Find A Grave: Memorial #6365, citing Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, Capital Regional District, British Columbia, Canada ; Maintained by Find A Grave.
• Robert A. J. McDonald and H. Keith Ralston, “DE COSMOS, AMOR,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume 12, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003
• Obee, Dave, The Times Colonist, 28 June 2015; A review of the book, The De Cosmos Enigma by Gordon Hawkins.
• Islam, Abu, Amor De Cosmos, 28 November 2014
• British Columbia Archives, Armor De Cosmos.
• Fawcett, Max, in Hazlitt, The Neglected Legacy of Amor De Cosmos, 13 June 2013.
• Wikipedia: Amor De Cosmos
• Wikidata: Item Q361295, en:Wikipedia