Death of ex-Provost Smith

"It was with feelings of widespread sorrow and regret that the community learned on Wednesday of the death which took place at 10 o'clock that morning of one of its most esteemed and venerable members, in the person of Mr. Robert Leslie Smith, the Third Provost of Dunoon, who had entered upon his eighty-ninth year, and through whose demise an important link with the early life of the Burgh has been severed. The deceased gentleman, although in failing health for some time past, showed wonderful vitality to the last - retaining all his faculties in a remarkable degree - and up till a year ago continued to take an active part in local affairs, in the conduct of which he had shown a zealous interest for over half a century.

Born near St Andrews eighty-eight years ago, Mr. Smith spent his early boyhood in Edinburgh, where he apprenticed himself to the tailoring trade, and curious to relate his chief colleague in public life in Dunoon (ex-Provost Oswald) was serving his apprenticeship in the Scottish Capital at the same time quite unknown to each other. Mr. Smith lodged in a house which adjoined St. Andrew's Church, where the General Assembly met at the time of the Disruption, and he often spoke of incidents which had come under his own personal observation in connection with that great historical event in the religious life of Scotland. During his residence in Edinburgh, as well as that of his municipal confrere, he witnessed the celebrations in connection with the coronation of Queen Victoria, which takes one far back into the last century.

After serving his apprenticeship, he went to London, whre he spent several years in improving his knowledge as a tailor and cutter, afterwards coming to Dunoon to act as a manager for a Mr. Keith, who carried on a drapery and tailoring establishment in the same premises at Hafton Place as those now occupied by Messrs. R. L. Smith & Son. Shortly after this, Mr. Keith left for Sydney, and Mr. Smith succeeded to the business. While, therefore, not a native of Dunoon, he was not long in proving himself one of her most devoted sons - a fact which was demonstrated by the leading part he took in all questions that affected the moral and social advancement of the community.

To begin with, his whole life has been spent in the interests of temperance reform, in connection with which work he showed a sympathy and spirit of self-sacrifice rarely seen in these days of self-seeking, when in the purchase of Hafton Place he did away with a licensed house and converted it into a temperance hotel, thereby sacrificing a sum of money that could not have amounted to less than £1,000.

He was one of the original promotors of the Burgh, and along with ex-Provost Oswald was one of the founders of the Dunoon Herald. He was elected Provost in 1872 in the stormy days of the irrepressible wire-pullers, whose intriguing is said to have caused him many a sleepless night, especially during the time of the Court of Session action raised against him for supplying gas to the Burgh - the action being nominally raised at the instance of an illiterate ratepayer, who, it transpired, had been persuaded by one of the municipal intriguers into adhibiting a cross to a certain paper. The action, however, was unsuccessful, and history records it that the illiterate who was duped into signing the document was shortly afterwards conveniently sent away from Dunoon. This is one illustration of the anxious times the leaders of the municipal life of Dunoon were subjected to in the early days of the Burgh, but it should suffice to stay the hand of the present day critic who is inclined to speak harshly of the old-fashioned way in which the Civic rulers of those days managed affairs. To a public man with the earnestness of ex-Provost Smith and to one with his innate modesty these must have been trying days indeed; but to rulers with the Sphinx-like nature of those of the present day, they would probably have given little or no concern.

It was during his tenure of office as Chief Magistrate that the Waterworks were constructed and the Burgh Buildings erected. While it may be impossible to estimate the real value of his work in the municipal sphere, it must be laid to his credit that by his example he strove to raise public life in Dunoon to the highest level, and if he did nothing else in that direction alone he accomplished what was sufficient to earn for him the gratitude of the community.

But his life work did not begin and end with temperance and municipal reform. By way of encouraging thrift among the working classes he started the Dunoon branch of the Penny Savings Bank over a quarter of a century ago and continued to take an active interest in its work until over twelve months ago, when through failing health he was compelled to relinquish a duty that had been a great source of pleasure to him. Prior to the passing of the Parish Council Act he was a member of the Committee of Management of the Dunoon and Kilmun Parochial Board; while he also interested himself in educational matters, being a member of the School Board for nearly twelve years. Fifteen years ago he was appointed a Justice of the Peace for the County of Argyll, and he was also a Director of the Dunoon District Cottage Hospital from its institution in 1881. He was also one of the founders of the Gasworks. The deceased took a great interest in the licensing question as far as it affected this part of Argyllshire, and it was chiefly through his unwearying efforts that the ten o'clock closing movement was adopted in Dunoon. In politics he was an ardent Liberal - being one of the Vice-Presidents of the District Liberal Association - and identified himself with all Church movements.

The earnest desire he showed at all times for the furtherance of the public weal and the disinterestedness evinced by him in all he did gained for him the respect and esteem of all with whom he came in contact as well as the confidence of the entire community."

Dunoon Herald & Cowal Advertiser, 18 April 1902