Smith, William

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: L. F. S. Upton, “SMITH, WILLIAM (1728-93),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 4, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/smith_william_1728_93_4E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Historian, diarist, jurist, and politician; b. 18 June 1728 in New York City, eldest child of William Smith and Mary Het; m. 3 Nov. 1752 Janet Livingston, and they had 11 children; d. 6 Dec. 1793 in Quebec City.
    • William Smith’s grandfather had been a merchant in England before immigrating to New York City in 1715. His father graduated from Yale College in 1722, became a successful lawyer, and in 1753 was appointed a member of the Council of the province of New York; his mother was from the French speaking Huguenot settlement of New Rochelle, New York. Smith graduated from Yale College in 1745 and articled in his father’s law office. Licensed attorney at law in October 1750, he quickly established a lucrative practice. He became particularly skilled in the defence of what were often ill-defined landed estates, and he was prominent in efforts to raise the standards of the legal profession by adherence to British forms. In 1763 Governor Robert Monckton offered Smith, then only 35 years old, the position of chief justice of the Supreme Court. Smith hesitated, because his father had just been appointed third judge of the same court, and the opportunity was lost. In 1767, when his father retired from the colonial council, Smith was appointed to succeed him.
    • ir Guy Carleton’s arrival as commander-in-chief of the British forces in 1782 shaped the future course of Smith’s life. The two men quickly established a rapport, conversing frequently about ideas of empire and imperial management. The British evacuated New York in 1783, and Carleton and Smith sailed for England on the same ship in December, Carleton to face a government unappreciative of his true merits, Smith to learn the numbing routine of office-seeker and claimant for compensation.
    • Smith’s fortunes were inextricably tied to those of Carleton, who had recommended his appointment as chief justice of Quebec while they were both still in New York. Put simply, if Carleton became governor of Quebec, Smith would become chief justice; if not, Smith’s future was blank.
    • Dorchester and Smith arrived at Quebec on 23 Oct. 1786, and Smith took the oaths of office as councillor and chief justice on 2 November. Once again denied a full measure of power, Carleton retired from the political scene and did not attend the council. Since the next in line, Lieutenant Governor Henry Hope, was frequently absent, Smith was left to preside over meetings, and his position was strengthened through his chairmanship of numerous council committees.
    • William Smith received one of the greatest gifts any man can have, a second chance. He was one of the few loyalists able to resume a career broken by the American revolution. Consequently his life spanned not just two colonies, but two empires as well. From the perspective of the old empire he foresaw the new: a British America federated, virtually autonomous, bulwarked by British political concepts and traditions. He was able to adapt ideas formulated in the first empire while an official of the second. Yet Smith’s career was one of potential rather than actual achievement.
  • Proven Loyalist in Loyalist Directory –https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7853
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46076478/william-smith