Joshua Attwood Reynolds Homer (August 1, 1827 – September 20, 1886) was a Canadian

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. The son of Joseph Homer, he was born in Barrington, Nova Scotia and educated there, but later moved to the British Columbia Colony, settling in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

in 1858, and becoming a merchant. In 1860, he married Sophie Wilson. In 1863, he was elected to the first

Colonial Assembly of British Columbia The Colony Assembly of British Columbia was formed in 1858 but there was no assembly till 1864. The assembly existed from January 21st 1864 to August 6th 1866 when the Colony of British Columbia merged with the Colony of Vancouver Island. Only a min ...

. Homer was reelected in 1864. Homer eventually became High Sheriff for the colony. In that capacity, he declared the

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

with

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

on behalf of Governor Frederick Seymour in 1866. Homer was a

Liberal-Conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

candidate in

during the 1874 federal election but lost to Liberal James Cunningham. Homer was later elected

in an 1882

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

when incumbent

Thomas Robert McInnes Thomas Robert McInnes or (Gaelic) Tòmas Raibeart Mac Aonghais (November 5, 1840 – March 15, 1904) was a Canadian physician, Member of Parliament, Senator, and the sixth Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. He was the father of the ...

resigned to accept an appointment in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. His election was confirmed in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

only six months later. Homer died in office in New Westminster before he could complete the term.

References

1827 births 1886 deaths Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Members of the Colonial Assembly of British Columbia {{BritishColumbia-politician-stub