BC Premier #9 – Theodore Davie.
Theodore Davie was the 9th Premier of the Province of British Columbia.
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Name | Theodore Davie |
Born: | March 22, 1852 in Brixton, England | |
Died: | March 7, 1898 in Victoria, BC | |
Party: | alas, still no parties | |
Held Office: | July 2, 1892 – March 2, 1895 |
- brother of Premier Alexander Edmund Batson Davie
- 1867: went to Victoria to join his father; studied law
- 1874: he married a 14-year-old, Blanche Baker; she died 2 years later.
- 1877: called to the bar
- built a reputation as a very able criminal lawyer1
- 1882: elected to the BC Legislative Assembly (seat = Victoria)
- supported Premier Smithe‘s government, and then his brother‘s government
- served as Attorney General under Premier Robson
- 1884: married Mary Alice Yorke, with whom he went on to have 7 kids (4 boys, 3 girls)
- 1892: became Premier when Robson died
- you have Davie to thanks for the Parliament buildings in Victoria, as it was his decision to build them despite opposition from the mainland
- continued to practice law while serving as the Premier
- 1895: resigned as Premier to take the post of Chief Justice of BC
- 1898: died of heart disease
In summary, Davie is kind of boring. Except for the part where he married a 14-year-old and was then widowed when she died at 16. What the hell is up with that?
Image credits: Accessed from Wikipedia. In the public domain. w00t!
Footnotes:
1To clarify, that would be a lawyer who defends those charged with crimes and not, as it sounds, a lawyer who himself commits crimes.
References:
Wikipedia, the reference that really doesn’t have much to say about Theodore Davie.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online