Lawyer.
Born at Calgary, Alberta on 28 May 1929, son of Jack H. Smethurst and Mary Muriel Wilson, he received a public school education at Victoria and Vancouver. After one year at the University of British Columbia, he moved to Winnipeg where he graduated from the Manitoba Law School in 1952. He served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers militia unit from 1950 to 1963, retiring with the rank of Major.
He practiced law in the Winnipeg firm of D'Arcy Irving Haig and Smethurst, being made a Queen's Counsel in 1969. He served as First Vice-President and President (1969-1970) of the Manitoba Bar Association, President of the United Services Institute (1960), and a director of the Rossmere Golf Club and Sir John Franklin Community Club. He was also President of Hobby Horse, a chain of retail toy, hobby, and handicraft stores, and was involved with the Canadian Bar Association, Victorian Order of Nurses, and Winnipeg Grenadiers Reserve Army.
He was married twice, first on 22 September 1956 to Irene Ferley (1931-2001, daughter of Taras Dmytro Ferley) at the Holy Trinity Church and second to Carol Ann Smethurst at Vancouver, British Columbia. He was the Returning Officer for the Assiniboia constituency in the 1962 and 1966 provincial general elections. In recognition of his community service, he received a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977).
“Smethurst - Ferley,” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 September 1956, page 16.
“Three Services Institute sets dinner-dance Friday,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 November 1960, page 8.
“Bar group re-elects C. Haig,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 November 1960.
“Jottings from the business world,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 November 1964, page 15.
“9 Queen's Counsel named in new year's honors list,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 January 1969, page 15.
Obituary [Irene Smethurst], Winnipeg Free Press, 22 December 2001.
We thank Robert Smethurst for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 28 April 2024
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