Henry Richard Smith (September 11, 1873 – October 24, 1928) was a politician and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. He served on Edmonton City Council from 1912 until 1914 and as president of the Edmonton

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Association and the

Alberta Medical Association The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) is a provincial affiliate of the Canadian Medical Association, established in 1889 in the Canadian province of Alberta. It describes itself as an "advocate for its physician members, providing leadership a ...

Early life

Harry Smith was born September 11, 1873, in New Hamburg,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He was educated in Oxford County and at the Woodstock Collegiate Institute in

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

, and studied medicine at Trinity University in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, from which he graduated in 1899. He did post-graduate work in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and was house surgeon at

Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospital ...

upon his return. In 1901, he moved west to Alberta and practiced medicine in Star for a year and a half before relocating again to Edmonton. There he specialized in surgery. In 1910 he was elected president of the

, and in 1912 was appointed to the board of directors of Alberta College. In 1901, he married Martha Doyle, with whom he had a daughter. Martha died in January 1901, and Smith married Mabel Rife, with whom he had a son and a daughter.

Politics

Smith ran for the Edmonton public school board in the 1910 municipal election, but was defeated, finishing fourth of six candidates in an election in which the top three were elected. In 1912 he ran for and was elected as alderman on the Edmonton City Council, finishing first of seventeen candidates. He did not seek re-election at the conclusion of his two-year term.

Later life and death

In 1921, after several years as city coroner, Smith was appointed medical superintendent for the Royal Alexandra Hospital, where he was credited with vastly improving the hospital's financial position and with advocating for the creation of a children's hospital. He remained active with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

. He was taken with

erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright red rash, t ...

October 21, 1928, and died three days later.

References

Edmonton Public Library Biography of Harry SmithCity of Edmonton biography of Harry Smith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Harry 1873 births 1928 deaths Edmonton city councillors Politicians from the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Physicians from Alberta Trinity College (Canada) alumni Canadian Methodists Canadian people of English descent MacEwan University Canadian coroners