Andrew Charles Elliott

Who was Andrew Charles Elliott?

Andrew Charles Elliott was a British Columbian politician and jurist. Elliott's varied career in British Columbia included Gold Commissioner, stipendiary magistrate and, following the union of the Island and Mainland Colonies in 1866 was appoint High Sheriff of the province, resigning his magristracy to take the post. He was a member of the colony's appointed Legislative Council from 1865 to 1866 and after the colony became a province of Canada he was elected, in 1875, to the Victoria City seat in the provincial legislature and became leader of the opposition. Before his election to the House, he was a provincial magistrate in Lillooet.

In 1876 Elliott became the fourth Premier of the province on the defeat of George Anthony Walkem's government in a Motion of No Confidence but his government was unstable, was unable to make progress with the federal government on the province's demands that Ottawa build a railway to the Pacific. Tax increases and the government's failure to secure a railway terminus for Victoria, British Columbia led to Elliott's defeat in his riding in the 1878 election as well as the defeat of his government.

His daughter Mary married James W. Douglas, the only son of James Douglas, but his son-in-law died at age 32 and Elliott was one of the pallbearers at the funeral.