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♂ Amor De Cosmos (William Alexander Smith)
aliasAmor De Cosmos
Record
14828 · 4975

☆   Mormon   
Type of record
Elected candidate ✓
Known but unelected candidate
Perennial candidate		 Deceased Performance: 83%
  ✓ ✗ ∑
Canada 4 1 5
British Columbia 1 0 1
Total 5 1 6
Birth 20 August 1825 → 198 years + 8 months ago
Lived 71 years + 10 months
First mandate 21 October 1871 → 152 years + 6 months ago
↳ at age 46 years + 2 months
Death 4 July 1897 → 126 years + 9 months ago
Exit → Death 15 years + 15 days after 19 June 1882
Double mandate Victoria (British Columbia)
Up until about 1872-74 (depending on the jurisdiction), a parliamentarian could sit in his provincial legislature and the Commons.
Special notes
None
 
Amor De Cosmos (1825–1897)
© Photo c.1870 — Public domain
Family tie with other documented individual
None
 
Well that's interesting!
The second premier of British Columbia was known for being eccentric. Born William Alexander Smith, he would go on to sit as the MP for Victoria until his defeat in 1882. He was declared insane two years before his death.
 

Length of service in elected office

Legislature Total Government Opposition
years months days years months days years months days
Canada 10 6 21
British Columbia 2 3 20 Z
TOTAL 12 10 11

Leadership role

  Duration
# Legislature Party M Int Role Age Dates y m d
1. BC 1
GOV
 1 Premier 47–48 23 Dec 1872 — 09 Feb 1874 1 1 17

Electoral history

Races 6  
Path points 7  
8 documented challengers
⊖ Edgar C. Baker  m 
⊖ Cornelius Booth  m 
⊖ John A. Macdonald  m 
⊖ Francis J. Roscoe  m 
 		 ⊖ Robert Beaven  m 
⊖ Arthur Bunster  m 
⊖ Henry Nathan  m 
⊖ Noah Shakespeare  m 
 
Eligible: inc. Votes: 377 Participation: inc. Candidacies: 3
Provincial
1		 British Columbia
21 October 1871
General
Plurality-at-large (2)
Gov't  GOV  Majority
ID: 28607(F) — 29 Jul 2023 00:06 ET
✓
 → New to this legislature
Age
46
IND
 1/3 151 79.89% +48 Loser:
IND
 103 54.50% William Dalby
After his election:
22 Oct 1871 46
IND
 →
GOV
 Changed allegiance (joined government)
9 Feb 1874 48
GOV
 →
Vac.
 Elected in another riding
Service: 2 years 3 months 19 days (Oppo. & Gov't)
Eligible: n/a Votes: 0 Participation: n/a Candidacies: 2
Federal
1		 British Columbia
24 November 1871
By-Election
First-past-the-post
Gov't  CONS  Majority
ID: 18474(F) — 16 Aug 2021 01:27 ET
✓
 → New to Parliament
Age
46
LIB
 1/2 By acclamation

Service: 7 months 25 days (Oppo.)
Eligible: inc. Votes: 894 Participation: inc. Candidacies: 3
Federal
2		 British Columbia
20 July 1872
General
Plurality-at-large (2)
Gov't  CONS  Minority
 LIB  5 Nov 1873
ID: 18667(F) — 25 Jun 2023 12:00 ET
✓
 Re-elected incumbent
Age
46
LIB
 2/3 398 89.04% +304 Loser:
IND
 94 21.03% Robert Beaven
After his election:
5 Nov 1873 48
CONS
 →
LIB
 Change of government (became part of government)
Service: 1 year 6 months 1 day (Oppo. & Gov't)
Eligible: 959 Votes: 1,008 Participation: 52.55% Candidacies: 4
Federal
3		 British Columbia
22 January 1874
General
Plurality-at-large (2)
Gov't  LIB  Majority
ID: 18705(F) — 21 Oct 2023 18:34 ET
✓
 Re-elected incumbent
Age
48
LIB
 1/4 308 61.11% +9 Loser:
IND
 299 59.33% C. Morton

Service: 4 years 7 months 25 days (Gov't)
Eligible: inc. Votes: 443 Participation: inc. Candidacies: 5
Provincial
1		 British Columbia
26 February 1874
By-Election
Plurality-at-large (2)
Gov't  GOV  Majority
ID: 28618(F) — 21 Oct 2023 16:32 ET
—
 Incumbent did not run in this election →
Age
48		 Successor:
GOV
 108 48.65% William A. Robertson
Eligible: 1,294 Votes: 1,932 Participation: 74.65% Candidacies: 3
Federal
4		 British Columbia
17 September 1878
General
Plurality-at-large (2)
Gov't  CONS  Majority
ID: 18991(F) — 23 Oct 2022 13:58 ET
✓
 Re-elected incumbent
Age
53
LIB
 2/3 538 55.69% +58 Loser:
IND
 480 49.69% J.P. Davies

Service: 3 years 9 months 2 days (Oppo.)
Eligible: inc. Votes: 1,677 Participation: inc. Candidacies: 6
Federal
5		 British Columbia
20 June 1882
General
Plurality-at-large (2)
Gov't  CONS  Majority
ID: 19187(F) — 20 Sep 2021 17:24 ET
✗
 Defeated incumbent →
Age
56
LIB
 3/6 307 36.59% -93 Winner:
CONS
 400 47.68% Noah Shakespeare

Online biographical references (5)

Bilingual references are counted as a single reference.  Retrieved on
EN Canadian Encyclopedia
Amor de Cosmos		 11 Feb 2024
FR Encyclopédie canadienne
Amor de Cosmos		 11 Feb 2024
EN Dictionary of Canadian Biography
De Cosmos, Amor		 11 Feb 2024
FR Dictionnaire biographique du Canada
De Cosmos, Amor		 11 Feb 2024
EN Parliament of Canada (ParlInfo)
Amor De Cosmos, M.P.		 11 Feb 2024
FR Parlement du Canada (ParlInfo)
Amor De Cosmos, député		 11 Feb 2024
EN Wikipedia
Amor De Cosmos		 11 Feb 2024
FR Wikipédia
Amor De Cosmos		 11 Feb 2024

© 2019, 2024 :: PoliCan.ca (Maurice Y. Michaud)
Pub.: 22 Jun 2019 17:01
Rev.: 18 Apr 2024 23:17 (but data presented dynamically)

© 2019-2024 :: PoliCan.ca
Given that electoral results are by their very nature public information, such data that can be found in PoliCan are considered to be in the public domain. However, unless indicated otherwise, all other elements — the concept of consolidating these data into a single format, the detailed research on each election, legislature and candidate, the organization and searchability of the data, the programming allowing the entry and maintenance of the data, as well as the analyses and explanatory articles found in this website — are the intellectual property of Maurice Y. Michaud.