Ernest Anthony Smith (25 December 1924 – 27 November 1998) was an
English historian who specialised in late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century British political history.
[Stephen Taylor,]
Obituary: E. A. Smith
, ''The Independent'' (21 January 1999), retrieved 12 January 2020.
Early life
He was born in
Grimethorpe,
Yorkshire and won an open scholarship to
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...
in 1942. However, he was called up for military service and served in the
Royal Air Force during the
Second World War. He went to Oxford in October 1947 before moving to
Reading University in 1949 to study a diploma in education.
Academic career
From 1951 until 1954 he was an assistant lecturer at Reading, after being appointed by
Arthur Aspinall, the professor of history. Smith was successively lecturer (1954–64), senior lecturer (1964–76) and reader (1976–90) at Reading.
Smith was employed by both Aspinall and
Lewis Namier as a research assistant on ''
The History of Parliament'' project. He was also joint editor (with Aspinall) of ''English Historical Documents, 1783-1832'' (1959).
His first book was a biography of
William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, a
Whig politician. His biography also shed light on the survival of Whig principles from the age of
Lord Rockingham and
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
to the era of
Charles Grey and
Lord John Russell.
Smith wrote a biography of Grey, which was published in 1990, and a biography of
George IV, published in 1999. In his last years he was working on a biography of
William IV, whom he liked. He also aimed to write the biography
George III, whom he considered "an evil old man".
In 1991 he was awarded a LittD from Cambridge. He was also instrumental in the founding of
Reading Festival.
Personal life
Smith married Daphine Greenhaigh in 1948, with whom he had a son and a daughter. They divorced in 1978, whereupon Smith married Anne Pallister, who died 1986. In 1988 he married Virginia Willcox. Smith died in
Redhill,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
on 27 November 1998.
Works
*''Whig Principles and Party Politics: Earl Fitzwilliam and the Whig Party, 1748-1833'' (1975)
*''Lord Grey, 1764-1845'' (1990)
*''A Queen on Trial'' (1993)
*''George IV'' (1999); for the
Yale English Monarchs series The Yale English Monarchs series is a series of biographies on English and British kings and queens, published by Yale University Press. The books are written by some of the leading experts within their respective fields, incorporating the latest hi ...
Notes
1924 births
1998 deaths
20th-century English historians
People educated at Thorne Grammar School
People from Grimethorpe
Alumni of the University of Reading
Academics of the University of Reading
Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Military personnel from South Yorkshire
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
Royal Air Force airmen
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