Abel Smith (17 July 1788 – 23 February 1859) was a longtime British

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 of ...

. He was the eighth child but eldest son of Samuel Smith, also a Member of Parliament, and Elizabeth Frances (née Turnor). He was nephew of

Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington (22 January 1752 – 18 September 1838), was a British banker and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1779 to 1797 when he was raised to the peerage. Early life Smith was the third son of Abel Sm ...

. The family had grown wealthy through banking in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. Abel Smith entered Parliament in 1810 as member for

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, and subsequently also represented

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 ...

, both

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

s controlled by his uncle Lord Carrington, sitting in the Commons for 20 of the last 22 years before 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 ...

. He and his father were Wendover's last MPs, as they sat together as its members for the last two years before the borough's abolition. Three years after the Reform Act, he was elected for

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, and served another twelve years as its MP. He was

High Sheriff of Hertfordshire The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisio ...

in 1849. Smith married Frances Anne Calvert, the daughter of General Sir Harry Calvert. Their son Abel Smith also became MP for Hertfordshire.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley,, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 3990

Notes

References

External links

* 1788 births 1859 deaths UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire Tory MPs (pre-1834) Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies

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 shepher ...

Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Hertfordshire {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1780s-stub