Alfred George Smyth (17 June 1879 – 27 October 1959) was a New South Wales-born Western Samoan politician.

Biography

Smyth was born in

Maitland, New South Wales Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England Hi ...

and attended the local Sacred Heart School and the government school on Thursday Island.Samoan Legislative Council
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', December 1935, p30 He started work at

Burns Philp Burns Philp (properly Burns, Philp & Co, Limited) was once a major Australian shipping line and merchant that operated in the South Pacific. When the well-populated islands around New Guinea were targeted for blackbirding in the 1880s, a new ...

in Thursday Island and married Emily Richmond Brown in 1901, after which the couple moved to

Bowen, Queensland Bowen is a coastal town and locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Bowen had a population of 10,377 people. The locality contains two other towns: * Heronvale () * Merinda (). The Abbot Point coal s ...

and then Charters Towers. They had a daughter named Emmy. After working for Burns Philp for 16 years, Smyth spent two years running his own business, before moving to Papua in 1910 to work for C.R. Baldwin. In 1914 Smyth moved to Levuka in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

to work for Morris Hedstrom, but left in 1918 to start work for H.J. Moors in

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

. Later in the same year he relocated to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

to open a branch of O.F. Nelson & Co. Returning to Samoa, he bought a business in Apia, which he sold to Morris Hedstrom in 1927. He then worked for A.M. Brodziak in Fiji, before returning to Apia to take over as head of the local branch of Morris Hedstrom. In 1933 he rejoined O.F. Nelson to become General Manager and a director of the firm. In 1937 he took over a general store and bakery, launching A.G. Smyth & Co.

Political career

Smyth was a member of the anti-colonial

Mau movement The Mau was a non-violent movement for Samoan independence from colonial rule during the first half of the 20th century. ''Mau'' means ‘resolute’ or ‘resolved’ in the sense of ‘opinion’, ‘unwavering’, ‘to be decided’, or ...

. He contested the first elections to the Legislative Council in 1924, but finished fifth out of the eight candidates running for the three available seats. As a result of his Mau activities, he was deported in January 1928 and exiled for two years.Kilifoti Sisilia Eteuati (1982
Evaevaga a Samoa: Assertion of Samoan autonomy 1920–1936
/ref> When Smyth was due to return to Western Samoa on 28 December 1929, the Mau movement planned a major reception for him. However, when the police attempted to arrest a member of the procession, a fight erupted and several Mau members were shot dead by the police firing into the crowd. The event became known as Black Saturday. Smyth was then considered for deportation again; although Governor

Stephen Allen Stephen Allen (July 2, 1767 – July 28, 1852) was an American politician from New York. Biography Orphaned by the death of his parent(s) in the Revolutionary War, Allen grew to become a wealthy sailmaker. He was the 55th Mayor of New York ...

described him as an "ass", he decided that another stint in exile was unjustified. Smyth planned to contest the 1932 elections. Although he was widely considered the favourite candidate, he was forced to withdraw his candidacy due to his employer's opposition. Smyth did contest the

1935 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1935. Asia * 1935 Philippine legislative election * 1935 Philippine presidential election Europe * 1935 Czechoslovakian parliamentary election * 1935 Czechoslovak presidential election * 1935 Danish Fo ...

, and was elected with by far the most votes. He ran for re-election in the 1938 elections as a member of the United Progressive Party, but was defeated by

Olaf Frederick Nelson Ta'isi Olaf Frederick Nelson (24 February 1883 – 28 February 1944) was a Samoan businessman and politician. He was one of the founding leaders of the anti-colonial Mau movement. Biography Nelson was born on 24 February 1883 in Safune on th ...

and

Charles Dawson Charles Dawson (11 July 1864 – 10 August 1916) was a British amateur archaeologist who claimed to have made a number of archaeological and palaeontological discoveries that were later exposed as frauds. These forgeries included the Piltdow ...

. He contested the 1941 elections, but lost to Nelson and Amando Stowers. In

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

Smyth ran again for election to the Legislative Council, and was successful in regaining his seat. He did not run in the 1948 elections due to poor health, but unsuccessfully contested the 1951 elections.

Later life

In September 1957 he moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.Mr. & Mrs. Smyth farewelled
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', October 1957, p19 He died in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1959.Death of A.G. Smythe
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', November 1959, pp23, 145–146

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Alfred 1879 births People from Maitland, New South Wales 20th-century Australian businesspeople Australian emigrants to Samoa Australian expatriates in New Zealand Australian expatriates in Fiji 20th-century Samoan businesspeople Members of the Legislative Council of Samoa 1959 deaths Samoan independence activists