Samuel Smith (14 April 1754 – 12 March 1834) was a British

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

and banker.

Biography

Samuel Smith the fourth son of Abel Smith, a wealthy

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

banker and Member of Parliament. Four of his brothers were also Members of Parliament and one,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, was raised to the peerage as

Baron Carrington Baron Carrington is a title that has been created three times, once in the Peerage of England, once in the Peerage of Ireland and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. History The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1643 in favo ...

. A portion of the family wealth was devoted to buying control of two pocket boroughs,

Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...

and

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

, and Carrington kept the seats here almost exclusively for use by various members of the Smith family until his power was ended by the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

. Smith entered Parliament in 1788 as member for St Germans, and was an MP for the next 44 years, also representing Leicester (1790–1818),

(1818–1820) and

(1820–1832). He and his son

Abel Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd ...

were Wendover's last MPs, as they sat together as its members for the last two years before the borough's abolition. In 1826, being the longest continually-serving MP, he became Father of the House. He did not return to Parliament after the 1832

, dying two years later. In 1801 Smith bought Woodhall Park in Hertfordshire, which still belongs to his descendants.

Family

Smith married Elizabeth Turnor on 2 December 1783. They had seven daughters and four sons. As well as his son Abel, his grandson

Samuel George Smith Samuel George Smith (5 June 1822 – 6 July 1900) was an English banker and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1859 to 1880. Smith was the grandson of Samuel Smith, Member of Parliament (MP) for Wendover from 1820 ...

was a Member of Parliament. Several of his children married into the family of the

Earl of Leven Earl of Leven (pronounced "''Lee''-ven") is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1641 for Alexander Leslie. He was succeeded by his grandson Alexander, who was in turn followed by his daughters Margaret and Catherine (who are usu ...

. The eldest son, Abel Smith, married Lady Marianne Leslie-Melville, youngest daughter of Alexander Leslie-Melville, 9th Earl of Leven, on 28 August 1822. The third son, Henry Smith, married Lady Lucy Leslie-Melville, eldest daughter of the 9th Earl of Leven, on 14 July 1824. The youngest daughter, Charlotte Smith, married the Hon. Alexander Leslie-Melville, fifth son of the 9th Earl of Leven, on 19 October 1825.Cracroft's Peerage
, Heraldic Media Ltd. In addition, his grandson Henry Abel Smith (1826–1890), son of Henry Smith and Lady Lucy Leslie-Melville, married his first cousin Elizabeth Mary Pym, daughter of Francis Pym and Lady Jane Elizabeth Leslie-Melville, second daughter of the 9th Earl of Leven, on 30 October 1849; they were the grandparents of Sir Henry Abel Smith who served as Governor of Queensland.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Samuel 1754 births 1834 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall Samuel