Charles Culling Smith, sometimes called Culling Charles Smith (c. 1775 – 26 May 1853) was a British politician and courtier.

Family

He was the son of Charles Smith,

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized b ...

, and nephew of Sir Culling Smith, 1st Baronet. On 2 August 1799 he married Lady Anne Fitzroy (13 March 1768 – 16 December 1844), widow of the Hon. Henry Fitzroy (13 September 1765 – 19 March 1794; fourth son of

Charles Fitzroy, 1st Baron Southampton General Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton (25 June 1737 – 21 March 1797) was a British Army officer who served in the Seven Years' War and a politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1759 to 1780. The second son of Lord Augustus F ...

) and only daughter of

Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington Garret Colley Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington (19 July 1735 – 22 May 1781) was an Anglo-Irish politician and composer, as well as the father of several distinguished military commanders and politicians of Great Britain and Ireland. Early life ...

. By this marriage he gained two stepdaughters: * Anne Caroline Fitzroy, died 16 December 1835 * Georgiana Frederica Fitzroy (3 October 1792 – 11 May 1821), married 25 July 1814 Henry Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, with two daughters.Patrick Cracroft-Brennan, Cracroft's Peerage
Beaufort, Duke of (E, 1682)
Accessed 12 June 2011. His marriage to Lady Anne produced a further two children, a daughter and a son: * Emily Frances Smith (3 March 1800 – 2 October 1889), married 29 June 1822 her half-sister's widower Lord Worcester, who succeeded his father as 7th Duke of Beaufort in 1835. They had one son and six daughters. * Frederick William Culling Smith (c1802 - died 19 June 1828), a godson of

the Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was D ...

.Jesse
p. 290
/ref> He was made a

Page of Honour A Page of Honour is a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. The on ...

on 13 March 1812 and commissioned as a Cornet in the

2nd Dragoon Guards The 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was first raised in 1685 by the Earl of Peterborough as the Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse by merging four existing troops of horse. Renamed several t ...

on 22 April 1819. He transferred into the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

as an

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

on 18 January 1820 and reached the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in that regiment before promotion to the Royal Horse Guards as a Captain on 2 January 1823. On 1 August 1826 he was promoted to the rank of Major of Infantry on the unattached list, and joined the

80th Regiment of Foot The 80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot to form the South Staffordshire Regim ...

on 17 January 1828. He died at Malta later that year, aged twenty-six. Charles Culling Smith and Lady Anne lived in a

grace-and-favour ''Grace & Favour'' (American title: ''Are You Being Served? Again!'') is a British sitcom and a spin-off of ''Are You Being Served?'' that aired on BBC1 for two series from 1992 to 1993. It was written by ''Are You Being Served?'' creators and ...

residence at Apartment 8, Hampton Court Palace.

Life

Charles Culling Smith's brother-in-law, the Marquess Wellesley, became Foreign Secretary in the Tory government of

Spencer Perceval Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was a British statesman and barrister who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. Perceval is the only British prime minister to ...

in 1809, and Culling Smith was appointed

Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affa ...

on 13 December that year, serving until 27 February 1812. On 1 June 1812 he was one of the Esquires to his brother-in-law the Earl of Wellington at the latter's installation (by proxy) as a

Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

. Culling Smith served as an equerry to

, and was present in that capacity at the funeral of

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

on 8 December 1818, while his son was there as Page of Honour. On 14 August 1820 Culling Smith and his wife, son, daughter and step-daughters were among the mourners at the funeral of the Duchess of York. His last service as equerry was at the Duke of York's funeral on 20 January 1827. On 13 March 1827 Culling Smith was made one of the Commissioners of the

Board of Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use si ...

, but he continued to attend state occasions including the funeral of

the Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

on 11 December 1834 and the Duke of Wellington on 18 November 1852.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charles Culling 1775 births 1853 deaths Civil servants in the Board of Customs Equerries Culling Smith Eardley family