Richard Wilson-Smith

Born in Ireland, Wilson-Smith emigrated to Canada in 1878 settling in Montreal, Quebec. A few years after arriving in Montreal, he became publisher and chief editor of the Insurance and Finance Chronicle. In 1893, he was elected to the Montreal City Council as an alderman for St. Lawrence Ward. In 1896, he was unanimously elected Mayor of Montreal for a two-year term. He ran unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate for the House of Commons of Canada for the riding St. Lawrence in the 1896 federal election. In 1892, he became a member of the Montreal Board of Trade, and in 1898 he purchased a seat on the Montreal Stock Exchange.

He was one of the original directors of the Lachine Rapids Hydraulic and Land Company, which undertook successfully the development of the vast water power of the Lachine Rapids. He was President of the Canada Accident Company, a trustee of the Guardian Assurance Company, Vice-President of the Montreal Trust and Deposit Company, the National Security Company of New York and resident Vice-President of the American Surety Company.

• An Encyclopedia of Canadian biography. Containing brief sketches and steel engravings of Canada's prominent men. Montreal Canadian Press Syndicate. 1904–1907.