The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Smith, Hon. George Paton
Smith, Hon. George Paton, M.L.A., sometime Attorney-General of Victoria, was born at Berwick-on-Tweed in 1829. In 1855 he emigrated to Victoria and started as a draper in Sandhurst. In 1858 he relinquished business, and took employment in Melbourne as a reporter on the Argus. The next year he became editor of the Leader, the weekly journal published in connection with the Melbourne Age; and of the latter paper was subsequently sub-editor and, for a short time, editor. Whilst engaged as a journalist, Mr. Smith was admitted to the Victorian Bar in Sept. 1861, and in 1865 was elected to the Legislative Assembly for South Bourke as a Liberal and Protectionist. From July 1868 to Sept. 1869 Mr. Smith was Attorney-General in the second M'Culloch Ministry, but at the General Election in Jan. 1871 he did not seek re-election for South Bourke. In 1874, however, he was again returned unopposed, and sat till 1877, when the constituency was divided, and Mr. Smith was returned for the Boroondara portion. He died on Dec. 9th, 1877.