Robbie Smith (politician)
New Zealand politician (1871–1958)
Robert William Smith (1871 – 2 June 1958), known as Robbie, was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party.
Political career
Smith won the Rangitikei electorate in a 1909 by-election and held it to 1911. In 1911, he won the Waimarino electorate, which he held to 1922, when he was defeated by Labour's Frank Langstone. In the 1925 election, Smith won it back, but was defeated again by Langstone in the 1928 election.
The public source identifies “Robbie Smith (politician)” as new Zealand politician (1871–1958). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Robbie, Smith and politician.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Robbie Smith (politician)”, the useful work is to connect “new Zealand politician (1871–1958)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7351109. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1871, 1958, 1909 and 1911.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Robbie Smith (politician)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Robbie Smith (politician) primary sources, Robbie Smith (politician) archive and Robbie research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Robbie Smith (politician)”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Robbie Smith (politician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.