Samuel Bois Smith (27 December 1756 – 20 October 1826) was a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and politician. He was appointed to the

Executive Council of Upper Canada The Executive Council of Upper Canada had a similar function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the Legislative Assembly. Members of the Executive Council were not necessarily members of the Legislative Assembly but were usually ...

and appointed Administrator of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. Smith was born in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead, New York, North Hempstead and Oys ...

, the son of Scottish immigrants (James Smith). In 1777, he joined the

Queen's Rangers The Queen's Rangers, also known as the Queen's American Rangers, and later Simcoe's Rangers, were a Loyalist military unit of the American Revolutionary War. Formed in 1776, they were named for Queen Charlotte, consort of George III. The Queen' ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He surrendered to the Americans after the

Battle of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

. Smith moved with the Rangers to Queensbury Parish in the newly created colony of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

where the Rangers were disbanded. Smith likely met his wife (a native of nearby Maugerville Parish) during this period and then moved to

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 ...

in 1784 to continue his service in the

. He rose to the rank of captain and was sent to Niagara in 1791. He was promoted to the position of lieutenant-colonel of his old regiment (which was recreated in Upper Canada) in 1801 before retiring to 1,000 acres (4 km²) of land he had bought in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

. Later some of this land was sold to

John Strachan John Strachan (; 12 April 1778 – 1 November 1867) was a notable figure in Upper Canada and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto. He is best known as a political bishop who held many government positions and promoted education from common sc ...

for the original

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

campus, now

Trinity Bellwoods Park Trinity Bellwoods Park is a public park located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, bordered by Queen Street West on the south and Dundas Street on the north. The western boundary of the park is Crawford Street, several hundred feet before Crawford in ...

. Smith was appointed 30 November 1813 to the

for the town of

. In 1817 he was sworn in as Administrator of Upper Canada in the absence of

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Francis Gore Francis Gore, (1769 – 3 November 1852) was an English military officer and British colonial administrator in Bermuda and Upper Canada. Gore was born in Blackheath, London, England in 1769 the son of Francis Gore and Caroline Beresford. ...

and served until 1818. He acted again as Administrator in the absence of Lieutenant Governor Sir

Peregrine Maitland General Sir Peregrine Maitland, GCB (6 July 1777 – 30 May 1854) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. He also was a first-class cricketer from 1798 to 1808 and an early advocate for the establishment of what would become the Canadi ...

for three months in 1820. As Administrator, Smith was advised not grant land to American immigrants until they had taken the

oath of allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...

and resided in

for seven years. He decided to follow the advice of his Executive Council and not remove title to the land from those who did not qualify. Smith was considered a weak official and was the target of complaints by both reformer Robert Gourlay and

family compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...

member John Strachan who thought him feeble, inept and talentless. However, in April 1818, Smith ordered Gourlay arrested when he called an illegal assembly at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. Smith retired from the Executive Council in October 1825. He died 20 October 1826 in

and left his wife and nine children. His son (Samuel B Smith Jr) was Clerk in the

Executive Council of the Province of Canada The Executive Council of the Province of Canada had a similar function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from its inception in 1841 to 1848. Members were advisers to the Gover ...

and died in Toronto in 1882.

Legacy

The City of Toronto's Colonel Samuel Smith Park in

was created in the 1970s and opened in 1996 along

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

is named in his honour. The park lands was part of his property (known as Colonel Smith Tract). The Tract in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

was inherited by his son Samuel and sold off by 1872 in what is now

Lakeview, Mississauga Lakeview is a neighbourhood in Mississauga in the Region of Peel, just east of Port Credit, which amalgamated into the Town of Mississauga in 1968. It is located in the extreme southeastern corner of the city, along the northern shores of Lake O ...

Smith Estate

Following his death, his estate (on

Lake Shore Boulevard Lake Shore Boulevard (often incorrectly compounded as Lakeshore Boulevard) is a major arterial road running along more than half of the Lake Ontario waterfront in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Prior to 1998, two segments of Lake Shore ...

between 40th and 41st Streets across from Long Branch GO Station) was occupied by his son and later sold. The last owner of the home was James Eastwood and the home was demolished in 1952. It is now a residential community consisting of townhouses, detached homes and apartments.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Samuel 1756 births 1826 deaths British colonial army officers People from Long Island Lieutenant-Governors of Upper Canada Canadian people of Scottish descent United Empire Loyalists British emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Immigrants to Upper Canada