Henry Walton Smith (1738 – 23 August 1792) was the founder of

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 ...

, one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's largest bookselling and newspaper vending businesses.

Career

Brought up in

Wrington Wrington is a village and a civil and ecclesiastical parish on the north slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England. Both include nearby Redhill. Wrington lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo river, about east of Weston-super-M ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, Henry Walton Smith moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and became a personal assistant to Charles Rogers, an English customs official and art collector. In 1792, together with his wife Anna, he founded his news vending business in

. He died only a few months later on 23 August 1792.

Family

In 1784 he married Anna Eastaugh, a servant girl (1756-c. 1816), leading to the loss of his inheritance. They went on to have two sons, Henry Edward Smith and William Henry Smith, and one daughter, Mary Anne Smith.Anna Eastaugh (Easter) 1756 - c. 1816
genealogy.links.org. Retrieved 14 February 2022.

References

1738 births 1792 deaths British retail company founders English businesspeople People from Wrington {{UK-business-bio-stub