2nd Parliament of British Columbia

The 2nd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from 1875 to 1878. The members were elected in the British Columbia general election held in September and October 1875. The government of George Anthony Walkem was defeated on a confidence motion on January 25, 1876, and Andrew Charles Elliott was asked to form a new government. On March 29, 1878, a government bill to redistribute the seats in the legislature was defeated and the assembly was dissolved on April 12, 1878.

There were three sessions of the 2nd Legislature:

Session	Start	End
1st	January 10, 1876	May 19, 1877
2nd	February 21, 1877	April 18, 1877
3rd	February 7, 1878	April 10, 1878

James Trimble served as speaker.

Members of the 2nd Parliament

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1875

Member	Electoral district	Party	First elected	No.# of term(s)
George Anthony Boomer Walken	Cariboo	Government	1871	2nd term
Alexander Edmund Batson Davie		Independent Opposition	1875	1st term
John Evans		Independent Opposition	1875	1st term
George Cowan (1877)		Opposition	1877	1st term
John Ash	Comox	Government	1871	2nd term
William Smithe	Cowichan	Reform	1871	2nd term
Edwin Pimbury		Reform	1875	1st term
William Fisher	Esquimalt	Independent	1875	1st term
Frederick W. Williams		Reform	1875	1st term
Charles Gallagher	Kootenay	Reform	1875	1st term
Arthur Wellesley Vowell		Reform	1875	1st term
William Cosgrove Milby (1876)		Government	1876	1st term
Robert Leslie Thomas Galbraith (1877)		Opposition	1877	1st term
William M. Brown	Lillooet	Reform	1874	2nd term
William Morrison		Reform	1875	1st term
John Bryden	Nanaimo	Reform	1875	1st term
David William Gordon (1877)		Independent Government	1877	1st term
William James Armstrong	New Westminster	Government	1871	2nd term
Ebenezer Brown		Independent Government	1875	1st term
Robert Dickinson	New Westminster City	Independent Government	1875	1st term
Thomas Basil Humphreys	Victoria District	Reform	1871	2nd term
William Fraser Tolmie		Reform	1874	2nd term
Robert Beaven	Victoria City	Government	1871	2nd term
James W. Douglas		Independent?	1875	1st term
Andrew Charles Elliott		Opposition	1875	1st term
James Trimble		Independent Government	1871	2nd term
John Andrew Mara	Yale	Reform	1871	2nd term
Robert Smith		Independent Government	1871	2nd term
Forbes George Vernon		Reform	1875	1st term

Notes:

1. Government candidates supported the Walkem administration
2. opposed to the Walkem administration
3. Independent candidate identified as supporting the Walkem administration

By-elections

By-elections were held for the following members appointed to the provincial cabinet, as was required at the time:

• Thomas Basil Humphreys, Minister of Finance and Agriculture, acclaimed February 15, 1876
• Andrew Charles Elliott, Premier, elected February 22, 1876
• Forbes George Vernon, Commissioner of Lands and Works, elected March 11, 1876
• William Smithe, Minister of Finance and Agriculture, acclaimed August 14, 1876
• Alexander Edmund Batson Davie, Provincial Secretary, defeated by George Cowan on June 20, 1877

By-elections were held to replace members for various other reasons:

Electoral district	Member elected	Election date	Reason
Kootenay	William Cosgrove Milby	August 24, 1876	A.W. Vowell named Gold Commissioner for Cassiar
Nanaimo	David William Gordon	January 19, 1877	J. Bryden resigned his seat to look after his business interests
Kootenay	Robert Leslie Thomas Galbraith	December 20, 1877	death of W.C. Milby on October 26, 1877