Robert Samuel “Sam” Bawlf was born on June 7, 1944, and died on August 20, 2016.
He was a Canadian politician and author.
He was elected to the city council of Victoria, British Columbia, in 1972 the youngest person to have been so.
During 1975, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for the riding of Victoria as a member of the Social Credit Party.
Sam was soon appointed Minister of Conservation and Recreation by Premier Bill Bennett.
When he became minister, he oversaw the enactment of B.C.’s first Heritage Conservation Act.
Sam Bawlf was defeated in the 1979 general election.
His book, The Secret Journey of Sir Francis Drake, was published in 2003 and has sold more than 20,000 copies.
In that book he challenged the conventional historical wisdom that fellow British explorer James Cook was the first European to visit the B.C. coast when he sailed into Nootka Sound in 1778.
Sam Bawlf passed away at 72 years old.