General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Henry Augustus Smyth (25 November 1825 – 19 September 1906) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer. He was the son of Admiral

William Henry Smyth Admiral William Henry Smyth (21 January 1788 – 8 September 1865) was a Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist. He is noted for his involvement in the early history of a number of learned societies, for his hydrographic ...

and the brother of astronomer

Charles Piazzi Smyth Charles Piazzi Smyth (3 January 1819 – 21 February 1900) was an Italian-born British astronomer who was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888; he is known for many innovations in astronomy and, along with his wife Jessica Duncan ...

and geologist Sir

Warington Wilkinson Smyth Sir Warington Wilkinson Smyth (26 August 181719 June 1890) was a British geologist. Biography Smyth was born at Naples, the son of Admiral W H Smyth and his wife Annarella Warington. His father was engaged in the Admiralty Survey of ...

. Of his sisters, Henrietta married the theologian Baden Powell and Georgiana the anatomist Sir

William Henry Flower Sir William Henry Flower (30 November 18311 July 1899) was an English surgeon, museum curator and comparative anatomist, who became a leading authority on mammals and especially on the primate brain. He supported Thomas Henry Huxley in an imp ...

Military career

Born on 25 November 1825 in

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 educated at

Bedford School :''Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Girls' School, Bedford High School, Bedford Modern School, Old Bedford School in Bedford, Texas or Bedford Academy in Bedford, Nova Scotia.'' Bedford School is a public school (English indep ...

, Smyth was commissioned as second lieutenant in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1843. He served in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

and was present at the Siege of Sevastopol. He became commandant of

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

garrison and military district in 1882 and General Officer Commanding the troops in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1886. In 1888 Smyth mustered an army of 2,000 troops and left for Zululand to put down a rebellion there. Smyth became acting

Governor of Cape Colony This article lists the governors of British South African colonies, including the colonial prime ministers. It encompasses the period from 1797 to 1910, when present-day South Africa was divided into four British colonies namely: Cape Colony (p ...

as well as acting

High Commissioner for Southern Africa The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates of Basutoland (now Lesotho), the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) and Swaziland ...

in 1889. He became

Governor of Malta A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

in 1890 before retiring in 1893.

Family

On 14 April 1874 at

Lillington, Warwickshire Lillington is a suburb of Leamington Spa, in the civil parish of Royal Leamington Spa, in the Warwick District in the county of Warwickshire, England. Historically a village which existed before the time of the ''Domesday Book'' (1086), it was i ...

he married Helen Constance Greaves (1845–1932), daughter of John Whitehead Greaves and sister of

John Ernest Greaves John Ernest Greaves CBE (30 November 1847 – 27 February 1945) was a wealthy Welsh slate mine owner and Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire. Early life He was born on 30 November 1847 at Tan-yr-allt, Tremadog, the son of John Whitehead Grea ...

. They had no children. Smyth died on 18 September 1906 at

Stone, Buckinghamshire Stone is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located southwest of the town of Aylesbury, on the A418 road that links Aylesbury to Thame. Stone with Bishopstone and Hartwell is a civil parish within Buckinghamshire district and also in ...

, and was buried there.

Notes

References

* ;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Henry Augustus 1825 births 1906 deaths Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Royal Artillery officers Governors and Governors-General of Malta People educated at Bedford School Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich British Army personnel of the Crimean War British Army generals