The Right Honourable
William Henry Smith
FRS
First Lord of the Treasury
In office
14 January 1887 – 6 October 1891
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byThe Marquess of Salisbury
Succeeded byArthur Balfour
Leader of the House of Commons
In office
14 January 1887 – 6 October 1891
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byLord Randolph Churchill
Succeeded byArthur Balfour
Personal details
Born(1825-06-24)24 June 1825
London, England
Died6 October 1891(1891-10-06) (aged 66)
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Emily Danvers
(1858–1913)
Alma materNone

William Henry Smith, FRS (24 June 1825 – 6 October 1891) was an English bookseller and newsagent of the family firm W H Smith, who expanded the firm and introduced the practice of selling books and newspapers at railway stations. He was elected a Member of Parliament in 1868 and rose to the position of First Lord of the Admiralty less than ten years thereafter. Because of his lack of naval experience, he was perceived as a model for the character Sir Joseph Porter in H.M.S. Pinafore. In the mid-1880s, he was twice Secretary of State for War, and later First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons, among other posts.

Background and business career

The son of William Henry Smith (1792–1865), Smith was born in London. He was educated at Tavistock Grammar School before joining his father's newsagent and book business in 1846, at which time the firm became W H Smith & Son.[1] Both men took advantage of the railway boom by opening news-stands on railway stations, starting with Euston in 1848.[1]

In 1850 the firm opened depots in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. The business became a household name (W H Smith), and Smith junior used the success of the firm as a springboard into politics.[1][2]

In February 1878, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[3]

Political career

In 1868, Smith was elected Member of Parliament for Westminster as a Conservative after an initial attempt to get into Parliament as a "Liberal-Conservative" in 1865 as a supporter of Prime Minister Lord Palmerston.[4] In 1874, Smith was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury when Disraeli returned as Prime Minister. In 1877, he became First Lord of the Admiralty even though he never went to sea throughout his life. It has been claimed that Smith's appointment was the inspiration for the character of Sir Joseph Porter, KCB, in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1878 comic opera, H.M.S. Pinafore.

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 Strand division in Westminster, and he served as Chief Secretary for Ireland for a short period the following year. He was twice Secretary of State for War, the first time during Lord Salisbury's brief ministry between 1885 and 1886, and the second when the Conservatives won the 1886 general election. He succeeded this appointment in 1887 as First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons and became Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1891.

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:

He died in October 1891, aged 66. The following month, his widow was raised to the peerage in his honour as Viscountess Hambleden, of Hambleden in the County of Buckingham. She died in August 1913 and was succeeded by her and Smith's only surviving son, Frederick.

Endnotes

  1. ↑ 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)
  1. 1 2 3 "The First WH Smith Railway Bookstall".
  2. ↑ History of WH Smith, W H Smith plc, retrieved 10 October 2012
  3. ↑ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  4. ↑ Maxwell 1898, pp. 157–160.
  5. ↑ H.M.S. Pinafore in Full Score. p. v.
  6. ↑ Jacobs, Arthur (1986). Arthur Sullivan – A Victorian Musician. Oxford University Press. p. 115. ISBN 0-19-282033-8.
  7. ↑ Carr, rev Matthew. Childers, Hugh. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Bibliography

Further reading

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