Andrew Charles Elliott
| Andrew Charles Elliott | |
|---|---|
 Hon. Andrew Charles Elliott | |
| 4th Premier of British Columbia | |
|
In office February 1, 1876 – February 11, 1878 | |
| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Lieutenant Governor |
Joseph Trutch Albert Norton Richards |
| Preceded by | George Anthony Walkem |
| Succeeded by | George Anthony Walkem |
| MLA for Victoria City | |
|
In office September 11, 1875 – May 22, 1878 Serving with Robert Beaven, James W. Douglas, James Trimble | |
| Preceded by | John Foster McCreight |
| Succeeded by | John W. Williams |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 22, 1829 Ireland |
| Died |
April 9, 1889 (aged 59) San Francisco |
| Political party | None |
Andrew Charles Elliott (June 22, 1829 – April 9, 1889) was a British Columbian politician and jurist.
Career
Elliott's varied career in British Columbia included Gold Commissioner, stipendiary magistrate and, following the union of the Island and Mainland Colonies in 1866, High Sheriff of the province. He resigned his magristracy to take the post as High Sheriff. He was a member of the colony's appointed Colonial Assembly from 1865 to 1866 and, after the colony became a province of Canada, he was elected, in 1875, to the Victoria City seat in the provincial legislature and became leader of the opposition. Before his election to the House, he was a provincial magistrate in Lillooet.
In 1876, Elliott became the fourth Premier of the province on the defeat of George Anthony Walkem's government in a Motion of No Confidence. His government was unstable and he was unable to make progress with the federal government on the province's demands that Ottawa build a railway to the Pacific. Tax increases and the government's failure to secure a railway terminus for Victoria, British Columbia led to Elliott's defeat in his riding in the 1878 election as well as the defeat of his government.
Death
Andrew Charles Elliott is interred in the Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria, British Columbia. His obituary in Amor de Cosmos' Victoria Colonist newspaper read:
| “ | 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. | ” |
Family life
His daughter Mary married James W. Douglas, the only son of James Douglas, but his son-in-law died at age 32 and Elliott was one of the pallbearers at the funeral.
External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Halfway to the Goldfields, Lorraine Harris, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver, 1977 ISBN 0-88894-062-9
