Henry Abel Smith

Early life and family

Abel Smith was born in London on 8 March 1900, the eldest son of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Abel Smith (1861–1908) of Wilford House, Nottinghamshire,^[2] and of Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire,^[2] and of Selsdon Park, a descendant of the prominent banking Smith family founded by Abel Smith (1717–1788), by his wife Madeline S Maur Seymour (1862–1951), a descendant of Edward Seymour, 8th Duke of Somerset.

His grandparents were Henry Abel Smith (1826–1890) and Elizabeth Mary Pym (1826–1877), a daughter of Francis Pym (1790–1860) and Lady Lucy Leslie-Meville (1796–1848), a daughter of

Abel Smith attended Eton College^[2] and subsequently the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where on 17 December 1919 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Horse Guards.^[4] Promoted on 17 December 1921 to lieutenant,^[5] between 1928 and 1930^[2] he served as aide-de-camp (ADC) to Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, whose daughter he later married. He was promoted to captain on 1 February 1930 and major on 26 June 1934.^[2]

Abel Smith served in the

• Anne Mary Sibylla Abel Smith (born 28 July 1932); on 14 December 1957 she married David Liddell-Grainger (26 January 1930 – 12 March 2007); they were divorced in 1981 but have five children and eight grandchildren. Her eldest son is Ian Liddell-Grainger, a Conservative Party Member of Parliament.
• Colonel Richard Francis Abel Smith (11 October 1933 – 23 December 2004); he married Marcia Kendrew (born 27 March 1940) on 28 April 1960, a daughter of Sir Douglas Kendrew, a Governor of Western Australia; they have one daughter and four grandchildren.
• Elizabeth Alice Abel Smith (born 5 September 1936); on 29 April 1965 at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, she married Peter Wise (29 December 1929 – 16 November 2021), a shipping executive.
  Bernhard Ringrose Wise (1858 - 1916), an Australian politician and Attorney General of New South Wales.^[9] They divorced in 1975 having had one daughter Emma Charlotte Abel Wise (1 Sept 1973 - 9 June 1974) who died in infancy.^[10]

Abel Smith died at home at Barton Lodge, Winkfield, Berkshire, on 24 January 1993 aged 92, just weeks away from his 93rd birthday. His funeral service took place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. His cremated remains were buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.^[11] His wife survived him by sixteen months.

Honours

• 1961:
  Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
  (KCMG)
• 1958:
  Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem
  (KStJ)
• 1950:
  Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
  (KCVO)
• 1945: Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henry Abel Smith.

• British Army Officers 1939–1945
• Portraits of Henry Abel Smith at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Government offices
Preceded by Sir John Lavarack	Governor of Queensland 1958–1966	Succeeded by Sir Alan Mansfield