William Henry Smith, FRS (24 June 1825 – 6 October 1891) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

bookseller and newsagent of the family firm

W H Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

, who expanded the firm and introduced the practice of selling books and newspapers at railway stations. He was elected a

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 ...

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 ''H.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, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which ...

''. In the mid-1880s, he was twice

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

, and later First Lord of the Treasury and

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, 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. Both men took advantage of the railway boom by opening news-stands on railway stations, starting with Euston in 1848. In 1850 the firm opened depots in

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Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. The business became a household name (

), and Smith junior used the success of the firm as a springboard into politics. In February 1878, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

Political career

In 1868, Smith was elected

for

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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. In 1874, Smith was appointed Financial Secretary to the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

when Disraeli returned as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. 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 Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

's 1878

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a n ...

, ''

''. 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". 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.Carr, ''rev'' Matthew. Childers, Hugh. ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. 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 The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century u ...

for a short period the following year. He was twice

, 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

and became

Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century, when the title was Keeper of the Coast, but may be older. The Lord Warden was originally in charge of the Cin ...

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: * 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. The following month, his widow was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...

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. Image:Our New First Lord at Sea.png, ''Pinafore'' did not begin the mockery of Smith: This ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

'' cartoon is from 13 October 1877, months before the première of ''Pinafore''. Image:William Henry Smith (politician) and Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury - Cartoon from Punch - 1891 - Project Gutenberg eText 14808.png, A Long Distance Swim, ''W. H. Smith: "Hooray – another stroke or two and we've done it." File:Emily, 1st Vicountess Hambleden, and her daughter, by Richard Buckner.jpg, Emily, 1st Vicountess Hambleden, and her daughter ( Richard Buckner) File:Memorial to a distinguished man within St Mary's, Portsea - geograph.org.uk - 1379034.jpg, Memorial in St Mary's Portsea

Endnotes

Bibliography

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External links