Benjamin Leigh Smith (1783– 12 April 1860 ) was a British Whig politician who represented the

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. Benjamin Smith was one of five sons and five daughters of William Smith, the famous MP and abolitionist. Of his sisters, Frances (Fanny) Smith, married into the Nightingale family and produced a daughter,

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...

, the nurse and statistician; another married into the

Bonham Carter family The Bonham-Carter family is a British family that has included several prominent people active in various spheres in the United Kingdom. Antecedents The Bonham-Carter family are the descendants of John Bonham-Carter (1788–1838), who was the firs ...

. William Smith wanted his son Benjamin to marry Mary Shore, the sister of

William Nightingale William Edward Nightingale ( Shore; 15 February 1794 – 5 January 1874) was a noted English Unitarian and the father of Florence Nightingale, "the lady with the lamp". Biography William Nightingale (known also as W.E.N.) was born William Edw ...

, now a relative by marriage (she later married Benjamin's brother Samuel). His home was in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, London, but in 1816 he inherited and purchased property near

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

: Brown's Farm near

Robertsbridge Robertsbridge is a village in the civil parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge, and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Hastings and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Royal Tunbridge ...

, with a house built around 1700 (extant), and Crowham Manor, Westfield, which included . Although a member of the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

, Smith held radical views. He was a

Dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...

, a Unitarian, a supporter of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

, and a benefactor to the poor. In 1826, he bore the cost of building a school for the inner-city poor at

Vincent Square Vincent Square is a grass-covered square in Westminster, London, England, covering 13 acres, lined with mature trees including London Planes. In among a network of backstreets, it chiefly provides playing fields for Westminster School, who own i ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, and paid a penny a week towards the fees for each child, the same amount as paid by their parents. On a visit to a sister in Derbyshire in 1826, Benjamin met Anne Longden. She became pregnant by him and he took her to a rented lodge at

Whatlington Whatlington is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located seven miles (11 km) north of Hastings, just off the A21 road. The village is in two parts, one in the valley on the road from B ...

, a small village near

Battle, East Sussex Battle is a small town and civil parish in the local government district of Rother in East Sussex, England. It lies south-east of London, east of Brighton and east of Lewes. Hastings is to the south-east and Bexhill-on-Sea to the south. Batt ...

. There she lived as "Mrs Leigh", the surname of his relations on the nearby

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. The birth of their first child, Barbara (the future founder of

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

as Barbara Bodichon), created a scandal because the couple did not marry;

illegitimacy Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

carried a heavy social stigma at the time. He rode from Brown's Farm to visit them daily, and within eight weeks Anne was pregnant again. When their son

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

was born, the four of them went to America for two years, during which time another child was conceived. After their return to Sussex, they lived openly together at Brown's Farm and had two more children. After their last child was born in 1833, Anne became ill with tuberculosis and Smith leased 9 Pelham Crescent, which faced the sea at Hastings; the healthy properties of

sea air Sea air has traditionally been thought to offer health benefits associated with its unique odor, which Victorians attributed to ozone. More recently, it has been determined that the chemical responsible for much of the odor in air along certain sea ...

were highly regarded at the time. A local woman, Hannah Walker, was employed to look after the children. Anne did not recover, so Smith took her to

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

, Isle of Wight, where she died in 1834. He died on 12 April 1860 at 5, Blandford Square in Marylebone."Deaths". ''London Daily News,'' Saturday 14 April 1860, p.8 - via

British Newspaper Archive The British Newspaper Archive web site provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London, u ...

. Retrieved 09 April 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Benjamin Leigh 1783 births 1860 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies People from Robertsbridge