2nd Parliament of British Columbia

The 2nd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from 1875 to 1878. The members were elected in the British Columbia general election held in September and October 1875. The government of George Anthony Walkem was defeated on a confidence motion on January 25, 1876, and Andrew Charles Elliott was asked to form a new government. ^[1] On March 29, 1878, a government bill to redistribute the seats in the legislature was defeated ^[2] and the assembly was dissolved on April 12, 1878. ^[1]

There were three sessions of the 2nd Legislature: ^[3]

Session	Start	End
1st	January 10, 1876	May 19, 1877
2nd	February 21, 1877	April 18, 1877
3rd	February 7, 1878	April 10, 1878

James Trimble served as speaker. ^[4]

Members of the 2nd Parliament

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1875

Member	Electoral district	Party	First elected
George Anthony Boomer Walken	Cariboo	Government [nb 1]	1871
Alexander Edmund Batson Davie		Independent Opposition [nb 2]	1875
John Evans		Independent Opposition	1875
George Cowan (1877)		Opposition	1877
John Ash	Comox	Government	1871
William Smithe	Cowichan	Reform [nb 2]	1871
Edwin Pimbury		Reform	1875
William Fisher	Esquimalt	Independent	1875
Frederick W. Williams		Reform	1875
Charles Gallagher	Kootenay	Reform	1875
Arthur Wellesley Vowell		Reform	1875
William Cosgrove Milby (1876)		Government	1876
Robert Leslie Thomas Galbraith (1877)		Opposition	1877
William M. Brown	Lillooet	Reform	1874
William Morrison		Reform	1875
John Bryden	Nanaimo	Reform	1875
David William Gordon (1877)		Independent Government	1877
William James Armstrong	New Westminster	Government	1871
Ebenezer Brown		Independent Government [nb 3]	1875
Robert Dickinson	New Westminster City	Independent Government	1875
Thomas Basil Humphreys	Victoria District	Reform	1871
William Fraser Tolmie		Reform	1874
Robert Beaven	Victoria City	Government	1871
James W. Douglas		Independent?	1875
Andrew Charles Elliott		Opposition [nb 2]	1875
James Trimble		Independent Government	1871
John Andrew Mara	Yale	Reform	1871
Robert Smith		Independent Government	1871
Forbes George Vernon		Reform	1875

Notes:

1. Government candidates supported the Walkem administration
2. opposed to the Walkem administration
3. Independent candidate identified as supporting the Walkem administration

By-elections

By-elections were held for the following members appointed to the provincial cabinet, as was required at the time: ^[5]

• Thomas Basil Humphreys, Minister of Finance and Agriculture, ^[6] acclaimed February 15, 1876
• Andrew Charles Elliott, Premier, ^[1] elected February 22, 1876
• Forbes George Vernon, Commissioner of Lands and Works, ^[7] elected March 11, 1876
• William Smithe, Minister of Finance and Agriculture, ^[8] acclaimed August 14, 1876
• Alexander Edmund Batson Davie, Provincial Secretary, ^[9] defeated by George Cowan on June 20, 1877

By-elections were held to replace members for various other reasons: ^[5]

Electoral district	Member elected	Election date	Reason
Kootenay	William Cosgrove Milby	August 24, 1876	A.W. Vowell named Gold Commissioner for Cassiar
Nanaimo	David William Gordon	January 19, 1877	J. Bryden resigned his seat to look after his business interests
Kootenay	Robert Leslie Thomas Galbraith	December 20, 1877	death of W.C. Milby on October 26, 1877

References

1. Ormsby, Margaret A (1982). "Andrew Charles Elliott". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online . Retrieved 2011-07-20.
2. Rayner, William (2000). British Columbia's premiers in profile: the good, the bad, and the transient. Heritage House Publishing Co. p. 43. ISBN   1-895811-71-6 . Retrieved 2011-07-20.
3. Begg, Alexander (1894). History of British Columbia from its earliest discovery to the present time. p. 546. Archived from the original on 2014-08-12.
4. "Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
5. "Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
6. Halleran, Michael F. H. (1982). "Thomas Basil Humphreys". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online . Retrieved 2011-07-20.
7. Candy, Ron. "The History of Coldstream and Lavington". Vernon Museum and Archives. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
8. Eastwood, T M (1982). "William Smithe". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online . Retrieved 2011-07-20.
9. Lewis, Zane H (1982). "Alexander Edmund Batson Davie". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online . Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-20.