I got this photo from the Wikipedia entry I am referring to today. This is Andrew Charles Elliot.
Karen Magill, Andrew Charles Elliot, history, Premier, railway British Columbia,Victoria,politics
Continuing my series on premiers of our province, today I look at Andrew Charles Elliot.
Born June 22, 1829 in Ireland, Elliot held a variety of positions here in B.C. He worked as Gold Commissioner, stipendiary magistrate and was appointed High Marshal of the province in 1866 after the union of the Island and the Mainland colonies. He had to resign his magistracy in order to take the marshal position.
Elliot served as a member of the colony's appointed legislative council from 1865 to 1866 then when the colony became a province of Canada; he was elected in 1875 to the Victoria City seat in the provincial legislature. He even became leader of the opposition. (Before he was elected to the house, Elliot served as magistrate in Lillooet)
In 1876, Andrew Elliot became our fourth premier when Walkem's government was defeated in a motion of no confidence. Unfortunately, Elliot's government was unstable and couldn't make progress with the federal government. A big issue in those times was that Ottawa had promised to build a railway to the Pacific Ocean and weren't doing so.
The government's failure to secure a railway terminus in Victoria as well as increased taxes led to Elliot's defeat in his riding in the 1878 election and the defeat of his government as well.
Mary Elliot, Andrew's daughter, married James W. Douglas, the only son of Governor James Douglas. Unfortunately, Mary was left a young widow when her husband died at the age of 32. Andrew was one of the pallbearers at his son-in-law's funeral.
Andrew Charles Elliot died on April 9, 1889 in San Francisco. He is interred at Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria, British Columbia.
Amor De Cosmos wrote the following obituary for the Victoria Colonist paper:
"He administered justice with a fearless hand and soon had discordant elements well in check. He was a genial, whole-souled gentleman of generous impulses and possessed the highest kind of honor. He was a brave man."
As many of you know, B.C. had a provincial election on Tuesday and I am thrilled that Christy Clark and her liberal party remain in control of the province.
Clark is focused on jobs and the economy. The world is still in a recession and fortunately B.Cer's have had leaders that realize we can't spend our way out of it.
So I am looking forward to another four years of our province building its prosperity and seeing those who want to work being able to find jobs.
I hope you find the beauty around you.
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