William Henry Smith PC (24 June 1825 – 6 October 1891) was an
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
bookseller and newsagent of the family firm
W H SmithWH Smith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...
, who expanded the firm and introduced the practice of selling books and newspapers at railway stations. He was elected a
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
in 1868 and rose to the position of First Lord of the Admiralty less than ten years thereafter. Because of his lack of military experience, he was perceived as a model for the character Sir Joseph Porter in
H.M.S. PinaforeH.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass that Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
.
William Henry Smith PC (24 June 1825 – 6 October 1891) was an
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
bookseller and newsagent of the family firm
W H SmithWH Smith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...
, who expanded the firm and introduced the practice of selling books and newspapers at railway stations. He was elected a
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
in 1868 and rose to the position of First Lord of the Admiralty less than ten years thereafter. Because of his lack of military experience, he was perceived as a model for the character Sir Joseph Porter in
H.M.S. PinaforeH.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass that Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
. In the mid-1880s, he was twice
Secretary of State for WarThe position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first applied to Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
, and later
First Lord of the TreasuryThe First Lord of the Treasury is the head of the commission exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom, and is usually—but not always—also the Prime Minister. Currently, the office is held by Gordon Brown...
and
Leader of the House of CommonsThe Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons...
, among other posts.
Background and business career
Smith was born in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, the son of
William Henry Smith (1792-1865)William Henry Smith , was an entrepreneur whose business was about both newsagents and book shops. He ran his business in London, where he was born and died...
. He was educated at Tavistock Grammar School before joining the business with his father in 1846. As a result of his involvement, the business became a household name (
W H SmithWH Smith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...
), and the practice of selling books and newspapers at railway stations began.
Political career
In 1868, Smith was elected
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
for
WestminsterThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. It alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring upon it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories...
as a
ConservativeThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
after an initial attempt to get into Parliament as a "Liberal Conservative" in 1865 as a supporter of
PalmerstonHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century...
. In 1874 Smith was appointed Financial Secretary to the
TreasuryA treasury is any place where the currency or items of high monetary value are kept. The term was first used in Classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or many similar buildings erected in Olympia, Greece by...
when Disraeli returned as
Prime MinisterA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and...
. In 1877 he became First Lord of the Admiralty. The appointment of a man with no naval or military experience to govern the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
was satirised by
Gilbert and SullivanGilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian era partnership of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
in the character of Sir Joseph Porter,
KCBThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, in their 1878
comic operaComic opera, or light opera, denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
,
H. M. S. Pinafore). W. S. Gilbert's
Pinafore lyrics are scathing:
- I grew so rich that I was sent
- By a pocket borough into Parliament.
- I always voted at my party's call,
- And I never thought of thinking for myself at all.
- I thought so little, they rewarded me
- By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!
Smith would be known by the derisive nickname "Pinafore Smith" during his three years in the post of First Lord. Smith held this office for three years until the
LiberalsThe Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the mid 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become...
returned to power.
In 1885 a redistribution of seats led to Smith now standing for the
Strand divisionStrand was a parliamentary constituency in the Strand district of the City of Westminster. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...
in Westminster, and served as
Chief Secretary for IrelandThe Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key office-holder of state in the British administration in Ireland. Towards the end of Crown rule in Ireland, he operated in a manner similar to that of the Prime Minister in the English and later British Parliament...
for a short period in the following year. He was twice
Secretary of State for WarThe position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first applied to Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
, the first time during Lord Salisbury's brief ministry between 1885 and 1886, and the second when the Conservatives won the
1886 General ElectionThe 1886 UK general election took place from 1–27 July 1886. It resulted in a major reversal of the results of the 1885 election as the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury in an electoral pact with the breakaway Unionist wing of the Liberals -...
. He succeeded this appointment in 1887 as
First Lord of the TreasuryThe First Lord of the Treasury is the head of the commission exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom, and is usually—but not always—also the Prime Minister. Currently, the office is held by Gordon Brown...
and
Leader of the House of CommonsThe Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons...
, and became
Lord Warden of the Cinque PortsThe Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century but may be older. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was originally in charge of the Cinque Ports, a group of five port towns on the south coast of England. Today the...
in 1891, dying shortly afterwards at
Walmer CastleWalmer Castle was built by Henry VIII in 1539–1540 as an artillery fortress to counter the threat of invasion from Catholic France and Spain. It was part of his programme to create a chain of coastal defences along England's coast known as the Device Forts or as Henrician Castles...
. His widow was created
Viscountess HambledenViscount Hambleden, of Hambleden in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1891 for Emily Danvers Smith, in honour of her deceased husband, the businessman and Conservative politician William Henry Smith...
, taking the title from the village close to the Smiths' country house of
GreenlandsGreenlands is a country house situated by the River Thames in Buckinghamshire, just outside Henley-on-Thames. Built in the nineteenth century, it now forms the core of Greenlands Campus of the University of Reading, and is used by their Henley Business School as the base for its MBA and corporate...
, near Henley-on-Thames. One of the few ministers personally close to Lord Salisbury (apart from the latter's nephew
Arthur BalfourArthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
), Smith was dubbed "Old Morality" due to his austere manner and conduct.
He was described by Henry Stratford Caldecott in an 1895
JohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi or Jo'burg, is the largest city in South Africa. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
lecture as "[t]he
doyen... of living English critics" in the matter of the
Baconian theoryThe Baconian theory of Shakespearean authorship holds that Sir Francis Bacon wrote the plays conventionally attributed to William Shakespeare....
. It was Smith's famous letter to
Lord EllesmereFrancis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere KG PC , known as Lord Francis Leveson-Gower until 1833, was a British politician, writer, traveller and patron of the arts.-Background and education:...
in 1857 which, after its subsequent publication as a small volume entitled
BaconFrancis Bacon,1st Viscount St Alban KC , son of Nicholas Bacon by his second wife Anne Bacon, was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, and author. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
and ShakespereWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
: An Inquiry Touching Players, Play-Houses, and Play-writers in the Days of ElizabethElizabeth I was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, gave the propagation of the theory its impetus.
Family
Smith married Emily, daughter of Frederick Dawes Danvers, in 1858. They had two sons and four daughters (of whom one son died as an infant). He died in October 1891, aged 66. The following month his widow was raised to the peerage as 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.