William Collard Smith, (19 July 1830 – 20 October 1894)[1] was a politician in colonial Victoria (Australia), member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Minister of Education 1880 to 1881.
[2] Identifying himself with the mining interest, he began to acquire that ascendency in the local politics of the goldfields' city, which he for many years maintained.
[2] Smith was returned to the Legislative Assembly in August 1861[3] for Ballarat West, in conjunction with the ex-Premier of Victoria, Duncan Gillies, and after a brief retirement stood again in 1871, when he was returned, and represented the constituency without intermission till April 1892, when he was defeated.
He also acted as Treasurer of Victoria during his chief's absence in England on the famous "Embassy" from December 1878 to November 1879.
He was one of the delegates to the Federation Convention held in Sydney in March 1891, and the next year lost his seat for Ballarat West.