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Amor de Cosmos, newspaper editor, politician, premier of BC (b William Alexander Smith at Windsor, NS 20 Aug 1825; d at Victoria, BC 4 July 1897). Smith left his job in a Halifax wholesale warehouse in 1851 to make his way to the California goldfields. A keen amateur photographer, when he reached the Pacific he set up a studio instead of digging for gold. Settling in Mud Springs, soon renamed El Dorado, Smith followed the town's example. In 1854, the California Senate passed a bill naming him Amor de Cosmos; the name, he said, "tells what I love most ... order, beauty, the world, the universe." When news of gold on the FRASER RIVER reached California in 1858, de Cosmos trekked northward, but stayed in Victoria and founded the British Colonist.
Highly critical of Governor James DOUGLAS, de Cosmos began a political career as well. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island 1863-66, and in the Legislative Council of BC 1867-71. De Cosmos promoted CONFEDERATION with Canada, but organized a "Confederation League" to get RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT in the "Terms of Union." When both were achieved (1871), he was elected to the new provincial legislature as well as the House of Commons. From 1872 to 1874 he was both premier of BC and a federal MP. He proved as mediocre in power as he had been brilliant in Opposition, and his career ended in 1882, when Victoria voters rejected him for advocating Canadian independence. De Cosmos's last years were marked by growing eccentricity and finally, in 1895, madness.
 De Cosmos, AmorBorn Bill Smith, he changed his name to Amor de Cosmos, which, he said, "tells what I love most ... order, beauty, the world, the universe" (Courtesy Library and Archives Canada/PA-25397).
Author
GEORGE WOODCOCK
Suggested Reading
G. Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos (1975).
Links to Other Sites
Amor De Cosmos
A biography of Amor De Cosmos with photographs and other archival resources. This “Canadian Confederation” website is from Library and Archives Canada.
The Fraser River Gold Rush and the Victoria Newspaper Boom
A virtual display about pioneering newspapers in Victoria, British Columbia. Features a historical overview, digitized archival documents, and a PowerPoint presentation. Includes details about early BC printing presses.
BC 150: Splendour without diminishment
The CBC Digital Archives celebrates B.C.'s sesquicentennial with a look at the people and the events that have shaped its history.
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Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
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