William Frederick Danvers Smith, 2nd Viscount Hambleden DL (12 August 1868 – 16 June 1928), known as Frederick Smith, was an English hereditary peer, businessman and politician. He studied at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

Life and career

Smith was involved in the management of the family business,

W H Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

, which was founded by his grandfather, William Henry Smith. He inherited sole control of the business from his father in 1891 and passed it on to his son. In 1891, he also succeeded his father William Henry Smith as

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 ...

for the Strand constituency, holding the seat until January 1910. His rapid succession to the seat his father held in Parliament may have played a role in his being targeted for blackmail by the notorious poisoner Dr

Thomas Neill Cream Thomas Neill Cream (27 May 1850 – 15 November 1892), also known as the Lambeth Poisoner, was a Scottish-Canadian medical doctor and serial killer who poisoned his victims with strychnine. Over the course of his career, he murdered up t ...

, who (writing under an assumed name) claimed to have proof that Smith had poisoned a

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

. This was one of three known attempts at blackmail that may have been the real motive for Cream's string of poisonings in the

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

and

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

areas of London from October 1891 to April 1892. They played a small role in the final arrest, prosecution and conviction of Cream at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

in October 1892, and his

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

the following month. Smith was commissioned

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 sub ...

in the 2nd Buckinghamshire Rifle Volunteers (Eton College) in 1885, but resigned in 1887. In 1891 he was commissioned

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry The Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and the First World War before being amalgamated with the Royal North Devon Yeomanry in 1920 to form the Royal ...

. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1892,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1895,

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

10 February 1902, and

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

in 1914. He served with the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but su ...

during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. Smith was made Honorary

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the

Royal Devon Yeomanry The Royal Devon Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1920. It participated in the Second World War and now forms a squadron of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry. History Formation Following the experience of the First World W ...

Artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

in 1922. He succeeded his mother, Emily Smith, as

Viscount Hambleden Viscount Hambleden, of Hambleden in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1891 (as Viscountess Hambleden) for Emily Danvers Smith, in honour of her deceased husband, the businessman and C ...

following her death in 1913. He married Esther Georgiana Caroline ''nee'' Gore, a daughter of Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran. Smith was succeeded by their son, William Henry Smith. They had four other children: Edith Mabell Emily (1901–1973), James Frederick Arthur (b. 1906), David John (1907–1976) and Margaret Esther Lucie (1908–1980). Smith was the main sponsor of the ''

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

'' from 1909 until 1931. In May 1902, he was the first person to receive the honorary freedom of the borough of

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

, "in recognition of his valuable services to the borough and his munificent donation to the building fund of the new Town hall".

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hambleden, Frederick Smith, 2nd Viscount 1868 births 1928 deaths People educated at Eton College Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers British businesspeople in retailing Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Smith, Frederick Smith, Frederick Smith, Frederick Smith, Frederick Smith, Frederick Smith, Frederick UK MPs who inherited peerages Smith, Frederick People associated with King's College London Fellows of King's College London British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Deputy Lieutenants of Devon Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry officers Imperial Yeomanry officers People from Filey Sportspeople from Yorkshire