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Former Member Details

Mr (Bruce) (Arthur) Bruce SMITH (1851 - 1937)

Member Photo
Date of Birth: 28/06/1851
Place of Birth: Rotherhithe, Surrey, England
Date of Death: 15/08/1937
Place of Death: Bowral, New South Wales, Australia
Parliamentary Service
Position Start End Period Notes
Library Committee No.6 05 Oct 1892 18 Oct 1892 14 days
Borough of Newcastle Electric Lighting Bill Committee No.12 20 Aug 1891 03 Sep 1891 15 days
Colonial Treasurer 14 Aug 1891 22 Oct 1891 2 months 9 days
Member for Glebe 17 Jun 1891 25 Jun 1894 3 years 9 days
Borough of Newcastle Electric Lighting Bill Committee No.40 06 Nov 1890 12 Nov 1890 7 days
Hay and Deniliquin Tramway Bill Committee No.34 23 Sep 1890 13 Nov 1890 1 month 22 days
Cook’s River Road Tramways Bill Committee No.26 29 Jul 1890 20 Dec 1890 4 months 22 days
Borough of Newcastle Electric Lighting Bill Committee No.23 03 Jul 1890 16 Jul 1890 14 days
Broken Hill and Pinnacles Tramway Bill Committee No.16 03 Jun 1890 20 Dec 1890 6 months 18 days
City of Newcastle Gas and Coke Company’s Electric and other light Bill Committee No.15 22 May 1890 11 Jun 1890 21 days Chairman
Willoughby and Gordon Tramway Act Amending Bill Committee No.13 13 May 1890 20 May 1890 8 days
Library Committee No.4 30 Apr 1890 20 Dec 1890 7 months 21 days
Illawarra Harbour and Land Corporation Bill Committee No.6 03 Dec 1889 17 Dec 1889 15 days
Library Committee No.4 27 Nov 1889 21 Dec 1889 25 days
New South Wales Tramway Company’s Bill Committee No.11 30 Apr 1889 17 May 1889 18 days
Silkstone Coal-mine Railway Bill Committee No.10 17 Apr 1889 30 Apr 1889 14 days
Toronto Tramway Bill Committee No.7 04 Apr 1889 11 Apr 1889 8 days
Library Committee No.5 03 Apr 1889 10 Oct 1889 6 months 8 days
Member for Glebe 18 Mar 1889 06 Jun 1891 2 years 2 months 20 days
Secretary for Public Works 08 Mar 1889 13 Aug 1891 2 years 5 months 6 days
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.2 01 Mar 1889 25 Apr 1889 1 month 28 days
Member for Glebe 02 Feb 1889 08 Mar 1889 1 month 7 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 10 Oct 1883 01 Nov 1884 1 year 23 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 18 Jan 1883 02 May 1883 3 months 15 days
Member for Gundagai 13 Dec 1882 08 Apr 1884 1 year 3 months 27 days
Member for Gundagai 23 Nov 1882 23 Nov 1882 1 day
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 23 Nov 1882 25 Jun 1894 11 years 7 months 3 days
Political Party Activity
Freetrader.
Community Activity
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Lawyer (barrister). Arrived in Melbourne with parents in 1854. Educated at Wesley College in Melbourne and other schools in Melbourne in cluding University of Melbourne. Engaged in Commerce in Melbourne. Studied law 1867 - 1873 and for a year attended the University of Melbourne. Entered Inner Temple in 1873. Called to Bar in 1877; practised in Victoria in 2 years and then Sydney. Practised at Bar. KC in 1904. Director of Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Company. Sydney and Suburban Hydraulic Power Company Limited.
Military Service
Honours Received
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Member of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. Member of the House of Representatives for Parkes 1901 - 1919.
Local Government Activity
Personal
Fifth (of seven) son of William Howard Smith, master mariner and shipowner, and his wife Agnes Rosa Allen. Married on 15 January 1879 to Sarah Jane Cresswell, at the Presbyterian Church, Toorak, Melbourne. Methodist. His elder brother, Edmund Edmonds Smith (1847 - 1914) was a member of the Legislative Council of Victoria for the seat of South Yarra in 1903. His book, 'Liberty and Liberalism', first published in 1887, was re-published in 2005 by the Centre for Independent Studies, Sydney (reviewed by Keith Windschuttle in 'Quadrant', April 2005).
Additional Information
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11