Amor de cosmos biography
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Amor De universum was born William Alexander Smith in Windsor, Nova Scotia on August 20, 1825. He attended a private school in Windsor before continuing his studies at King's College School. Around 1840 the family moved to Halifax, where De universum joined the Dalhousie College debating club, attended a grammar school by night and took a day job as a clerk in a wholesale grocer.
In 1852 he left Halifax to join the California gold rush traveling via New York and St. Louis. Once in California he began work as a photographer. It was while in California, in 1854, that he changed his name to Amor De universum, out of his desire to något som utförs snabbt exempelvis expressleverans, as he said, his "love of order, beauty, the world, the universe."
De Cosmos moved to Victoria on Vancouver Island in 1858 and in månad of that year founded a newspaper, the British Colonist. He used his newspaper as a vehicle to demand the union of the two west coast Colonies, (Vancouver Island and British Columbia), to campaign for responsibl
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Amor de Cosmos believed strength lay in unity. The notoriously eccentric figure –– who changed his name from William Alexander Smith to “lover of the universe” –– was a vocal proponent behind the 1866 amalgamation of Vancouver Island and the mainland. A year later, De Cosmos, a Nova Scotia-born newspaper publisher and member of British Columbia’s unelected legislative council with a penchant for theatrical flair, introduced a resolution favouring B.C.’s entry into the newly-formed Dominion of Canada. It passed unanimously. But several obstacles still remained.
Although B.C.’s legislative council held considerable influence, it possessed no decision-making power. Authority rested in the hands of Frederick Seymour, B.C.’s then-governor. Seymour, who had originally resisted the union between Vancouver Island and the mainland, now opposed the call to unite with Canada. He tried to impede pro-Confederation efforts ahead of his death in 1869. Many in the anti-Confederat
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Amor De Cosmos
Canadian politician
Amor De Cosmos | |
|---|---|
Hon. Amor De Cosmos | |
| In office December 23, 1872 – February 9, 1874 Serving with Henry Nathan Jr. | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Lieutenant Governor | Joseph Trutch |
| Preceded by | John Foster McCreight |
| Succeeded by | George Anthony Walkem |
| In office October 16, 1871 – February 9, 1874 Serving with Arthur Bunster | |
| Preceded by | first member |
| Succeeded by | William Archibald Robertson |
| In office October 12, 1872 – June 20, 1882 Serving with Henry Nathan, Jr., Francis James Roscoe, John A. Macdonald | |
| Preceded by | riding established |
| Succeeded by | Edgar Crow Baker |
| In office September 20, 1871 – October 12, 1872 | |
| Preceded by | new member |
| Succeeded by | riding abolished |
| Born | William Alexander Smith (1825-08-20)August 20, 1825 Windsor, Nova Scotia |
| Died | July 4, 1897(1897-07-04) (aged 71) Victoria, British Columbia |
| Political
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