Smeaton was born in Carleton Place, Ontario. In his first game in 1913, between the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers of the National Hockey Association, he was confronted by Newsy Lalonde after calling an offside. Smeaton promptly fined Lalonde $5 (Lalonde who was known as a bit of a "tightwad" never repeated the incident). In 1916, he joined the Canadian military to serve in World War I in the 11th Canadian Siege Battery in France. He became the National Hockey League's first referee in chief when the NHL formed in 1917.