View source for Robert Smith (Canadian judge)

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Robert Smith
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = File:Colonel R. Smith.jpg
| constituency_MP     = [[Stormont (electoral district)|Stormont]]
| parliament          = Canadian
| predecessor         = [[Robert Abercrombie Pringle]]
| successor           = [[Duncan Orestes Alguire]]
| term_start          = 1908
| term_end            = 1911
| office2             = [[Puisne Justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of Canada]]
| predecessor2        = ''None  (new position)''
| successor2          = [[Henry Hague Davis]]
| term_start2         = 1927
| term_end2           = 1933
| nominator2          = [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1858|12|7}}
| birth_place         = Ramsay Township, [[Canada West]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1942|3|18|1858|12|7}}
| death_place         = [[Ottawa]], Ontario, Canada
| nationality         = [[Canadians|Canadian]]
| spouse              = 
| party               = [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]
| relations           = 
| children            = [[Arnold Neilson Smith]]
| residence           = 
| alma_mater          = 
| occupation          = 
| profession          = 
| religion            = 
| allegiance          = [[Canadian Militia]]
| battles             = 
| serviceyears        = 1897 - 1910
| rank                = [[Captain]]<br>[[Lieutenant Colonel]]
| unit                = [[Stormont,_Dundas_and_Glengarry_Highlanders#59th_Stormont_and_Glengarry_Battalion_of_Infantry_(3_July_1868)|59th Stormont and Glengarry Regiment]] (1897-1908)
| commands            = [[Stormont,_Dundas_and_Glengarry_Highlanders#59th_Stormont_and_Glengarry_Battalion_of_Infantry_(3_July_1868)|59th Stormont and Glengarry Regiment]] (1908-1910)
| honorific_prefix    = [[The Honourable]]
}}
'''Robert Smith''' (7 December 1858 &ndash; 18 March 1942) was a Canadian lawyer, politician and [[puisne justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of Canada]].

Born in [[Lanark County, Ontario|Lanark County]], [[Canada West]] (now [[Ontario]]), the son of William Smith and Jean Neilson, he was educated in [[Almonte, Ontario|Almonte]] and at [[Osgoode Hall]].<ref name="johnson"/> He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1885. He then practiced law in [[Cornwall, Ontario]].

In 1888, Smith married Florence Parker Pettit.<ref name="johnson">{{cite book |title=The Canadian Directory of Parliament 1867-1967 |last=Johnson |first=J.K. |year=1968 |publisher=Public Archives of Canada}}</ref>

Smith joined the [[Stormont,_Dundas_and_Glengarry_Highlanders#59th_Stormont_and_Glengarry_Battalion_of_Infantry_(3_July_1868)|59th Stormont and Glengarry Regiment]] on May 28, 1897 and commanded the regiment as Lieutenant Colonel from 1908 to April 11, 1910. 

In [[1904 Canadian federal election|1904]], he ran for the [[House of Commons of Canada]] as a [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] in the riding of [[Stormont (electoral district)|Stormont, Ontario]]. He lost but won in [[1908 Canadian federal election|1908]]. He did not run for re-election.<ref>{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=14298|2=Robert Smith|nolist=yes}}</ref>

In 1908, Smith was named [[King's Counsel]]. Smith was a director and secretary-treasurer for the Montreal and Cornwall Navigation Company. He served as lieutenant-colonel in the militia.<ref name="johnson"/>

In 1922, he was appointed to the High Court Division of the [[Supreme Court of Ontario]] and then to the Appellate Division. In 1926, he sat on the Supreme Court as an ''ad hoc'' judge and was appointed as a judge in 1927. He retired in 1933.{{fact|date=December 2021}}

For reasons unknown, the federal government took over a year to appoint a replacement for Justice Smith, eventually appointing [[Henry Hague Davis]] in 1935.<ref>{{Cite book|author=James G. Snell|author2=Frederick Vaughan|title=The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|year=1985|isbn=0802034179|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/supremecourtofca0000snel}}, p. 148.</ref>

Smith died in [[Ottawa]] at the age of 83.<ref name="johnson"/>

==Electoral record==
{{1904 Canadian federal election/Stormont}}
{{1908 Canadian federal election/Stormont}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.scc-csc.ca/judges-juges/bio-eng.aspx?id=robert-smith Supreme Court of Canada biography]

{{Anglin-court}}
{{Duff-court}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Robert}}
[[Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]]
[[Category:1858 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian King's Counsel]]
[[Category:People from Lanark County]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]