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Robert Guy Smethurst
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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 articled in law with Albert Hurd “Bert” Warner then, in February 1954, formed the firm of Warner Billinkoff and Smethurst. In 1965, owing to the illness of his law partners, he formed the firm of D'Arcy Irving Haig and Smethurst. He draft the first Manitoba Condominium Act in 1966-1967, one of the first in Canada, and he was a founder of the Canadian Condominium Institute and the Manitoba branch of the same. He was made a Queen's Counsel (1969), and served as Managing Partner of his firm. In March 1971, it merged with Swift McLeod Deacon and Kirby to form the new practice of D'Arcy and Deacon, with Smethurst as its Managing Partner.
He served as First Vice-President and President (1969-1970) of the Manitoba Bar Association and President of the United Services Institute (1960). In late 1986 or early 1987, he retired from law practice, moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, and in July 1987 became the Executive Director of the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. He held the position until retirement in September 1996.
He was married twice, first on 22 September 1956 to Irene Ferley (1931-2001, daughter of Taras Dmytro Ferley) at the Holy Trinity Church, with whom he had a daughter and a son. He later married Carol Ann Bayston at Vancouver, British Columbia. He was the Returning Officer for the Assiniboia constituency in the 1962 and 1966 provincial general elections, and a director of the Rossmere Golf Club and Sir John Franklin Community Club. He was President of Hobby Horse, a chain of retail toy, hobby, and handicraft stores, and was involved with the Victorian Order of Nurses (National President, 1976-1979). He served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers militia unit (1950-1963), retiring with the rank of Major.
In recognition of his community service, he received a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977) and was inducted into the Order of the Buffalo Hunt (1986).
See also:
Manitoba Business: D’Arcy and Deacon
“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: 1 September 2024
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