Sir Alfred Waldron Smithers (4 October 1850 – 22 August 1924) was a British businessman and politician, and a pioneer of the railway industry in England and Canada. Smithers was born in

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

, Surrey. His parents, William Henry Smithers and Emma Turner, married the prior December. His father a

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

employee, Alfred was a member of the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

1873–1909.Fort George Herald, 19 Jul 1913 From the 1820s, clients dealt with stockbrokers, who would direct jobbers to make trades. In 1909, Stock Exchange rules formalized this separation that minimized dishonest trading. Stockbrokers came from higher social standing, whereas jobbers were commoners. By the 1980s, Akroyd & Smithers was one of the five major London jobbing firms. Although Alfred is mentioned as a partner in this firm, an 1879 restructuring of the partnership only mentions a John Smithers. Alfred was deputy chair of the

South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...

for some years, He became a director of the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) in 1895, making his first trip to Canada the next year to view the railway's operations. In 1903, the board reluctantly approved

Charles Melville Hays Charles Melville Hays (May 16, 1856 – April 15, 1912) was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway. He began working in the railroad business as a clerk at the age of 17 and quickly rose through the ranks of management to become the General M ...

' westward expansion plans under the auspices of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR). Board chair and president,

Charles Rivers Wilson Sir Charles Rivers Wilson (1831–1916) was a British civil servant and financier. Biography Wilson was born in London on 19 February 1831. He studied at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford. He entered the Treasury in 1856, and was private ...

, delegated Alfred as GTPR spokesperson, probably a vice president by this time. Following as chair 1909–1921, Alfred made the first contribution to the fund for an Anglican church at

Smithers, British Columbia Smithers is a town in northwestern British Columbia, approximately halfway between Prince George and Prince Rupert. With a population of 5,351 in 2016, Smithers provides service coverage for most of the Bulkley Valley. History Region First Nation ...

, a place named in his honour. Publicly, Alfred blamed

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

for the railway's subsequent financial predicament. He revisited Canada a number of times prior to the bankruptcy of the GTPR and GTR. He described those years when fighting for the company as "11 years of purgatory". In March 1880 Alfred married Emma Roberta Theobald (1859–1934). Their children were Waldron (1880–1954), Florence (1882–1942), Langley (1884–1955), Hubert (1885–1953), Eva (1886–1973), and Norman (1887–1976). Hubert, BC, a former train station, was named after son Hubert. One of the stained glass windows in

St Katharine's Church, Knockholt St Katharine's Church is an Anglican parish church in the village of Knockholt and the Sevenoaks deanery. St Katharine's and St Margaret's came together in 1983 as a United Benefice under one parish priest. The pattern of services reflects the ...

, Kent, England, is a memorial to Alfred & Emma Smithers. Knockholt, BC, a former train station, was named after Knockholt, Kent, the location of the family home. Knighted in 1919, Alfred was

Coalition Unionist The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to Parliament of the United Kingdom, parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the United Kingdom coalition government (1916–1922), ...

member of parliament for

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...

from 1918 to 1922. His son Waldron was later elected to this constituency.

Footnotes

References

* * * Obituary, ''The Times'', 23 August 1924. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smithers, Alfred 1850 births 1924 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 Knights Bachelor