Alexander Edmund Batson Davie

Alexander Edmund Batson Davie

Alexander Edmund Batson Davie, lawyer, politician, premier of British Columbia 1887-89 (b at Wells, Eng 24 Nov 1847; d at Victoria 1 Aug 1889). He immigrated to Vancouver Island in 1862 and was the first person to receive a complete legal education there, being called to the bar in 1873. He was clerk of the BC legislature 1872-74 and was elected in Cariboo, 1875, with the patronage of Premier Walkem, but he gravitated to the Opposition. In 1877 he accepted office in the government of A.C. Elliott but was defeated in the resulting by-election. Elected for Lillooet in 1882, he became attorney general in the new William Smithe government (1883) and supervised an extensive revision of the province's statutes. Davie succeeded Smithe as premier (1887) but soon fell ill and died in office.