Prophet Smith
Prophet James Laurence Smith (b. 23 October 1909, Ulsta, Yell, d. 12 April 1979, Lerwick), was a seaman and a journeyman politician, standing for election in all four possible elected bodies: the UK Parliament, the Zetland County Council, the Lerwick Town Council and lastly the Shetland Islands Council. He held elected positions in the latter three bodies at various points between 1944 and 1978.
Biography
Prophet became a seaman at an early age. There is a vivid anonymous account by him of his seagoing career in Peter Jamieson's Letters from Shetland (1949).
He subsequently became an organiser for the National Union of Seamen in Lerwick, and later in Greenock. He returned to Shetland again as area organiser for the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society. He eventually became a full-time member of the Highlands and Islands Development Board, on its formation in 1965, responsible for its fisheries expansion programme. He served there for 11 years until his retrial.
Prophet Smith was the first Labour candidate in the Orkney and Shetland constituency, in 1945. Despite finishing in third (last), he achieved a respectable 29% of the vote, falling just under 1,100 votes short of the winner, Basil Neven-Spence. That election also saw the first attempt by Jo Grimond at the Orkney and Shetland seat.
He was a County Councillor for Nesting between 1952 and 1955 and Bressay from 1955 to 1960. He was County convener for four years. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for Nesting in 1949, and had a short spell as a Shetland Islands Council councillor after his retirement, representing Dunrossness, failing to be re-elected to the same seat in 1978. He also briefly represented the Lerwick Town Council between November 1944 and February 1945.
His brother, James, was a Zetland County Councillor for Bressay from 1949 to 1955.
He unsuccessfully contested the Nesting seat in the 1949 County Council election and Dunrossness North seat at the 1978 Shetland Islands Council election.
Political Career
Westminster Parliament
Shetland Islands Council
Lerwick Town Council
Zetland County Council
- 1949 County Council election
- 1952 County Council election
- 1955 County Council election
- 1958 County Council election
External Links
| Conveners | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Thomson |
Convener of the Zetland County Council 1955-1960 |
Succeeded by Tom Henderson |
| Conveners of the Zetland County Council | ||
|---|---|---|
| Councillors | John Bruce (1890-1907) • John Anderson (1907-1910) • James Grierson (1911-1913) • Robert D. Ganson (1914-1917) • John W. Robertson (1918-1923) • Henry Mouat (1924-1927) • James A. Smith (1928-1929) • Magnus Shearer (1930-1935) • Thomas Johnston (1935-1936) • William McDougall (1936-1937) • Adam Halcrow (1937-1938) • Edward Adie (1938-1943) • Robert J. H. Ganson (1944-1947) • William Thomson (1947-1955) • Prophet Smith (1955-1960) • Tom Henderson (1960-1963) • William Hamilton (1963-1967) • Robert A. Johnson (1967-1970) • Edward Thomason (1970-1973) • George Blance (1973-1975) | |
| Zetland County Council | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Pearson |
Member for Nesting 1952-1955 |
Succeeded by William Hamilton |
| Preceded by James Smith |
Member for Bressay 1955-1960 |
Succeeded by John Smith |
| Bressay County Councillors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Councillors | James Meiklejohn (1890-1898) • Robert D. Ganson (1898-1913) • Thomas Anderson (1913-1922 • Allan Roy (1922-1929) • Archibald MacIntyre (1929-1933) • James Smith (1933-1934) • Norman Cameron (1934-1945) • William Collie (1945-1949) • James Smith (1949-1955) • Prophet Smith (1955-1960) • John Smith (1960-1966) • John Scott (1966-1970) • James Irvine (1970-1975) | |
| Nesting County Councillors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Councillors | Robert Bell (1890-1892) • William Levie (1892-1895) • John Small (1895-1910) • James Loggie (1910-1914) • John Pearson (1914-1919) • James Hunter (1919-1920) • Robert Hunter (1920-1922) • Robert D. Ganson (1922-1928) • Magnus Gray (1928-1932) • Thomas Anderson (1932-1935) • William Sutherland (1935-1938) • James Anderson (1938-1945) • Adam Thomson (1945-1948) • John Pearson (1948-1952) • Prophet Smith (1952-1955) • William Hamilton (1955-1973) • Andrew Riddell (1973-1975) | |
| Shetland Islands Council | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Leask |
Member for Dunrossness 1977-1978 |
Constituency abolished |
