William Henry Smith (1825–1891)
Victoria | |
---|---|
Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
Preceded by | Lord Randolph Churchill |
Succeeded by | Arthur Balfour |
Personal details | |
Born | Emily Danvers (1858–1913) | 24 June 1825
Alma mater | None |
William Henry Smith,
Background and business career
The son of
In 1850 the firm opened depots in
In February 1878, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[3]
Political career
In 1868, Smith was elected
Gilbert had written to Sullivan in December 1877, "The fact that the First Lord in the opera is a Radical of the most pronounced type will do away with any suspicion that W. H. Smith is intended". However, the character was seen as a reflection on Smith, and even Disraeli was overheard to refer to his First Lord as "Pinafore Smith".[5][6] It has been suggested that the Pinafore character was as much based on Smith's controversial predecessor as First Lord, Hugh Childers, as on Smith himself.[7] Smith held the office for three years until the Liberals returned to power.
In 1885, a redistribution of seats led to Smith now standing for the
He died shortly afterwards at Walmer Castle, Kent, and his widow was created Viscountess Hambleden in his honour and took the title from the village close to the Smiths' country house of Greenlands, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxon. One of the few ministers personally close to Lord Salisbury (apart from the Salisbury's nephew, Arthur Balfour), Smith was dubbed "Old Morality" because of his austere manner and conduct.
Family
Smith married Emily, daughter of Frederick Dawes Danvers, in 1858. They had two sons and four daughters:
- Mabel Danvers Smith (d. 1956; she married the 5th Earl of Harrowby)
- Emily Anna Smith (1859–1942; she married Admiral William Acland)
- Helen Smith (1860–1944)
- Beatrice Danvers Smith (1864–1942)
- Henry Walton Smith (1865–1866)
- William Frederick Danvers Smith (1868–1928)
He died in October 1891, aged 66.[
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Pinafore did not begin the mockery of Smith: This Punch cartoon is from 13 October 1877, months before the première of Pinafore.
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A Long Distance Swim, W. H. Smith: "Hooray – another stroke or two and we've done it."[a]
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Emily, 1st Vicountess Hambleden, and her daughter (Richard Buckner)
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Memorial in St Mary's Portsea
Endnotes
- ^ Cartoon satirising Smith as rowing and Lord Salisbury, Prime Minister, swimming towards the end of the Parliamentary year to escape the twin waves of Free Education and Land Purchase, contentious issues of the time. Smith died three months after the publication of this cartoon (Punch, 1891)
- ^ a b c "The First WH Smith Railway Bookstall".[dead link]
- ^ History of WH Smith, W H Smith plc, retrieved 10 October 2012
- ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ Maxwell 1898, pp. 157–160.
- ^ H.M.S. Pinafore in Full Score. p. v.
- ISBN 0-19-282033-8.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-486-42201-1.
- Maxwell, Herbert Eustace (1898). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 54. pp. 157–160.
- )
- Wilson, Charles (1985). First With the News: The History of W. H. Smith 1792-1972. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-02156-7.
Further reading
- Anonymous (1873). "W. H. Smith, M.P.". Cartoon portraits and biographical sketches of men of the day. Illustrated by Frederick Waddy. London: Tinsley Brothers. pp. 112–113. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
External links
- Media related to William Henry Smith (politician) at Wikimedia Commons
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by W. H. Smith