Andrew Charles Elliott (June 22, 1829 – April 9, 1889) was a

British Columbian British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

politician and jurist.

Career

Elliott's varied career in British Columbia included gold commissioner,

stipendiary magistrate Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal ...

, and, following the union of the Island and Mainland Colonies in 1866, high sheriff of the province. He resigned his magistracy to take the post as High Sheriff. He was a member of the colony's appointed Colonial Assembly from 1865 to 1866. After the colony became a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, he was elected, in 1875, to the Victoria City seat in the provincial

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

and became

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. Before his election to the House, he was a provincial magistrate in Lillooet. In 1876, Elliott became the fourth

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

of the province on the defeat of George Anthony Walkem's government in a

Motion of No Confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. His government was unstable, and he was unable to make progress with the federal government on the province's demands that Ottawa builds a railway to the Pacific. Tax increases and the government's failure to secure a railway terminus for

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

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 Ross Bay Cemetery is located at 1516 Fairfield Road in Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, Canada. Many historical figures from the early days of the province and colony of British Columbia are buried at Ross Bay. History The ceme ...

. His

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

in Amor de Cosmos' Victoria ''Colonist'' newspaper read:

Family life

His daughter Mary married

James W. Douglas James William Douglas (June 1, 1851 – November 7, 1883) was a Canadian who represented Victoria City (provincial electoral district), Victoria City in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1875 to 1878. He was born in Victoria, Br ...

, 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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Andrew Charles 1829 births 1889 deaths Premiers of British Columbia Elliot, Andrew Charles Canadian civil servants Gold commissioners in British Columbia People from Lillooet Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia Members of the Colonial Assembly of British Columbia Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) judges