Hubert Llewellyn-Smith
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Sir Hubert Llewellyn Smith (1864 – 19 September 1945) was a British
civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
. He served as permanent secretary to the
Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
from 1907 to 1919, where he played an important role in the
Liberal government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...
's welfare reforms. He also served as the chief economic advisor to the government from 1919 to 1927.'Sir H. Llewellyn Smith', ''The Times'' (21 September 1945), p. 6.


Education and early career

He was born to Samuel Wyatt Smith, who was from
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
. He was educated at
Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, mixed, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowe ...
and
Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...
, where he graduated with a first class degree in Mathematical Moderations and Finals. He also won the Cobden Prize. He was briefly a lecturer in
political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...
to the Oxford University Extension and the Toynbee Trust before he became secretary to the National Association for the Promotion of Technical Education for four years. With Vaughan Nash, Smith co-authored a history of the
1889 London dock strike The 1889 London dock strike was an industrial dispute involving dock workers in the Port of London. It broke out on 14 August 1889, and resulted in victory for the 100,000 strikers when they won their pay claim of sixpence per hour, the so-calle ...
.William Beveridge, 'Obituary', ''The Economic Journal'', Vol. 56, No. 221 (March 1946), p. 144.


Civil servant

He was appointed the Board of Trade's first Commissioner for Labour in 1893, where his work on statistics led to the Board of Trade Act 1909. Smith was also active in the improvement of
industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...
and in 1895 he helped to settle the strike in the shoe-making industry. He was permanent secretary to the Board of Trade from 1907 to 1919. He worked with
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
, then
President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centur ...
, and
William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was a Progressivism, progressive, social reformer, and eugenicist who played a central role ...
in the organisation of
labour exchange A public employment service is a government's organization which matches employers to employees. History One of the oldest references to a public employment agency was in 1650, when Henry Robinson proposed an "Office of Addresses and Encounters" ...
s and
unemployment insurance Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...
. He studied unemployment insurance in other countries, which led him to the conclusion that compulsory insurance through employers was superior to the voluntary system. His ideas were embodied in the
National Insurance Act 1911 The National Insurance Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 55) created National Insurance, originally a system of health insurance for industrial workers in Great Britain based on contributions from employers, the government, and the workers themselves. ...
, which introduced compulsory health insurance in certain industries. As President of the Economic Section of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...
, he delivered in 1910 at
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
an address on "Economic Security and Unemployment Insurance". Here he explained how he had helped devise Britain's unemployment insurance system. The address was published in the ''
Economic Journal ''The Economic Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics published on behalf of the Royal Economic Society by Oxford University Press. The journal was established in 1891 and publishes papers from all areas of economics.The edito ...
'' and was considered by Beveridge to be "one of the most important ever given in that capacity". Smith invented judicial authorities to adjudicate benefit claims, which relieved Parliament of the burden: these were the Insurance Officers, Courts of Referees and the Umpire.Beveridge, 'Obituary', p. 145. Shortly before the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1914, Smith succeeded in putting through his scheme of
war risk insurance War risk insurance is a type of insurance which covers damage due to acts of war, including invasion, insurrection, rebellion and hijacking. Some policies also cover damage due to weapons of mass destruction. It is most commonly used in the shipp ...
. In 1915 he became the general secretary of the
Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...
under
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...
. In his memoirs Lloyd George wrote of Smith: "I considered him to be the most resourceful and suggestive mind in the whole of our Civil Service at that time—and withal a man whose long service at the Board of Trade had brought him intelligently into direct contact with every branch of commerce and industry throughout the world". Beveridge said that in this role Smith's "superhuman industry, his speed, and his resourcefulness in tackling new problems were demonstrated".William Beveridge, 'Sir H. Llewellyn Smith: An Appreciation', ''The Times'' (25 September 1945), p. 6. Smith was the chief economic advisor to the government from 1919 until he retired in 1927. He was a member of the economic committee of the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
and deputy delegate to the League of Nations Assembly in Geneva for the years 1923 and 1924. He was also chairman of the
British Institute of Industrial Art British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
from 1920 until 1935 and chairman of the
National Association of Boys' Clubs Ambition (formerly known as Clubs for Young People) is a registered charity whose members are youth organisations in cities, counties and countries throughout the UK. Through its network, Ambition works with more than 3,500 organisations, suppor ...
from 1935 to 1943. As the Director of the New
Survey of London The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an A ...
Life and Labour, Smith updated Charles Booth's ''
Life and Labour of the People in London ''Life and Labour of the People in London'' was a multi-volume book by Charles Booth (social reformer), Charles Booth which provided a survey of the lives and occupations of the working class of late 19th-century London, 19th century London. Th ...
''. After Smith's death, William Beveridge paid tribute to him as "one of the most constructive practical minds that can ever have served the country". In his obituary of Smith in the ''Economic Journal'', Beveridge wrote:
ewas an outstanding public servant, in peace and in war... As a supremely constructive person, he was fortunate in reaching the most influential position in his career in 1907, just when a Government had come to power that wished to get new things done. The country was fortunate in having him there when the first of our
total war Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all (including civilian-associated) resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilises all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare ov ...
s required so many new things to be done which fell in or near the sphere of his department... For constructive inventiveness in making new ideas in public administration viable, Llewellyn Smith can never have been surpassed, and can have had few equals.Beveridge, 'Obituary', pp. 143-144, 146.


Personal life

Smith married Edith Weekley in 1901 and they had four sons and two daughters.


Works

*''Modern Changes in the Mobility of Labour, Especially between Trade and Trade: A Report to the Toynbee Trustees'' (London: Henry Frowde, 1901). *'Chapters in the History of London Waterside Labour', ''The Economic Journal'', Vol. 2, No. 8 (December 1892), pp. 593–607. *'British Association for the Advancement of Science.—Sheffield, 1910. Extracts from Address to the Economic Science and Statistics Section', ''Journal of the Institute of Actuaries'', Vol. 44, No. 4 (October 1910), pp. 511–518. *'Economic Security and Unemployment Insurance', ''Economic Journal'', Vol. 20, No. 80 (December 1910), pp. 513–529. *''The Board of Trade'' (London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1928). *'The New Survey of London Life and Labour', ''Journal of the Royal Statistical Society'', Vol. 92, No. 4 (1929), pp. 530–558. *''History of East London'' (London: Macmillan, 1939).


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Hubert Llewellyn 1864 births 1945 deaths People educated at Bristol Grammar School Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford English civil servants Guild of St George