Born at Sheepshead Gully near Bendigo to miner James Smith and Agnes Thompson, he attended schools in Bendigo before becoming a blacksmith, spending periods in Yarraville and Mirboo North.
Around 1886 he married Agnes Elizabeth Reed, with whom he had two sons, Sydney and Leslie.
In 1904 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the Labor member for Bendigo West.
Appointed Minister without Portfolio in 1913, he was expelled from the Labor Party in 1914 after supporting the teaching of scripture lessons in state schools.
This article about an Australian Labor Party member of the Parliament of Victoria is a stub.