Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Hon. Sir Leicester Smyth (born Curzon-Howe; 25 October 1829 – 27 January 1891) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the ...

Early life and education

Smyth was the seventh son of

Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (11 December 1796 – 12 May 1870), was a British peer and courtier. Background He was the third but eldest surviving son of The Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon (the eldest son of Assheton Curzon, 1s ...

and Lady Harriet Georgiana Brudenell, daughter of

Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan (25 April 1760 – 14 August 1837) was an English peer and Member of Parliament. Early life Robert Brudenell was born in Westminster, the posthumous son and heir of Colonel the Hon. Robert Brudenell and h ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

Military career

Smyth was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade in 1845. He served in the Basuto War in 1852. In 1854 he was appointed aide-de-camp to

Lord Raglan Baron Raglan, of Raglan in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 20 October 1852 for the military commander Lord FitzRoy Somerset, chiefly remembered as commander of the British troops ...

and was present at the

Battle of Alma The Battle of the Alma (short for Battle of the Alma River) was a battle in the Crimean War between an allied expeditionary force (made up of French, British, and Ottoman forces) and Russian forces defending the Crimean Peninsula on 20Septem ...

, the

Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, an ...

and the Siege of Sevastopol. He subsequently served as ADC to General Codrington. He was made Assistant Military Secretary in the Ionian Islands in 1856, Military Secretary in Ireland in 1865 and Deputy Quartermaster in Ireland in 1872. In 1877 he became General Officer Commanding Western District and in 1880 GOC

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

. He was 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 ...

from 1882 to 1883, GOC Southern District from 1889 to 1890 (in which capacity he hosted a visit by the Shah of Persia) and

from 1890 until his death in 1891, aged 61.

Family

On 12 February 1866 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, he married Alicia Maria Eliza Smyth, daughter and heiress of Robert Smyth of

Drumcree, County Westmeath Drumcree () is a small village in County Westmeath in Ireland on the R395 regional road. This village is part of St Mary's Parish, Collinstown Collinstown () is a village in north County Westmeath, situated on the R395 regional road ove ...

. In November that year, he adopted his wife's maiden name in lieu of his own, and quartered the Smyth arms with the arms of Curzon-Howe. They had no children.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Leicester 1829 births 1891 deaths Military personnel from Leicester British Army generals Rifle Brigade officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George British Army personnel of the Crimean War British colonial governors and administrators in Africa British colonial governors and administrators in Europe Younger sons of earls Curzon family Governors of Gibraltar