Joshua Attwood Reynolds Homer (August 1, 1827 – September 20, 1886) was a Canadian Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 from British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

.

The son of Joseph Homer, he was born in Barrington, Nova Scotia

Barrington, Nova Scotia

Barrington is a municipal district in western Shelburne County, Nova Scotia.Barrington forms the southernmost part of the province and contains Cape Sable, the eastern boundary between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine.- Demographics :...

 and educated there, but later moved to the British Columbia Colony

Colony of British Columbia

The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...

, settling in New Westminster

New Westminster, British Columbia

New Westminster is an historically important city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and is a member municipality of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. It was founded as the capital of the Colony of British Columbia ....

 in 1958. Homer eventually became a merchant and eventually High Sheriff

High Sheriff

A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...

 for the colony. In that capacity, he declared the union with Vancouver Island

Colony of Vancouver Island

The Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...

 on behalf of Governor Frederick Seymour

Frederick Seymour

Frederick Seymour was a colonial administrator. He served as the second Governor of the Colony of British Columbia from 1864 to 1866, and the first governor of the union of the two colonies, also named the Colony of British Columbia from 1866 to 1869.Seymour was the son of Henry Augustus Seymour,...

 in 1866. In 1860, he married Sophie Wilson. In 1863, he was elected to the first Legislative Council for the Colony of British Columbia; Homer was reelected in 1864.

Homer was a Liberal-Conservative

Liberal-Conservative Party

The Liberal-Conservative Party was the formal name of the Conservative Party of Canada until 1873, although some Conservative candidates continued to run under the label as late as the 1911 election and others ran as simple Conservatives prior to 1873...

 candidate in New Westminster

New Westminster (electoral district)

New Westminster was a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1979....

 during the 1874 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1874

The Canadian federal election of 1874 was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 3rd Parliament of Canada. Sir John A...

 but lost to Liberal James Cunningham. Homer was later elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 in an 1882 by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 when incumbent Thomas Robert McInnes

Thomas Robert McInnes

Thomas Robert McInnes or Tòmas Raibeart Mac Aonghais was a Canadian physician, Member of the House of Commons, Senator, and the sixth Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia....

 resigned to accept an appointment in the Senate

Canadian Senate

The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...

. His election was confirmed in the general election

Canadian federal election, 1882

The Canadian federal election of 1882 was held on June 20, 1882 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Canada.Prime Minister Sir John A...

only six months later. Homer died in office in New Westminster before he could complete the term.