Leonard Smelt (c. 1719 – 2 September 1800) was a British Army officer. He also served as sub-governor to
Frederick, Duke of York
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by professi ...
and the future
George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
.
Life
Early military service
He was the eldest son of
William Smelt (1690 – 14 September 1755) of Leases in
Kirkby Fleetham
Kirkby Fleetham is a village in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England about east of the A1(M) road. Along with the two nearby villages of Great Fencote and Little Fencote it forms the civil parish of Kirkby Fleetham and Fencote. ...
, MP for Northallerton in the parliament of 1734. Leonard's first appointment was as a clerk in the
Ordnance Office
The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence ...
in June 1734 before becoming a cadet gunner in the new
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 ...
on 1 January 1739. This did not take up all of his time and he was granted permission to attend the drawing room at the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
, where he trained under
Clement Lempriere and
John Peter Desmaretz and became a skilled military artist and plan-maker. The Master General of the Ordnance, the
Duke of Montagu
The title of Duke of Montagu has been created twice, firstly for the Montagu family of Boughton, Northamptonshire, and secondly for the Brudenell family, Earls of Cardigan. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1705 for Ralph Mo ...
, assigned him to Colonel
Thomas Lascelles, chief engineer at
Portsmouth Dockyard
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...
, in April 1741 and only two months later Lascelles recommended that Montagu grant him the rank of practitioner engineer. On 13 August 1741 he was given a post at the Tower of London by General
John Armstrong,
Surveyor-General of the Ordnance and
Chief Royal Engineer. This post lasted almost a year before he was assigned to the British force in Flanders on 19 June the following year, becoming part of the ordnance train there and fighting at
Dettingen and
Fontenoy. He also gained promotion to engineer extraordinary on 8 March 1744, leapfrogging the intermediate rank of sub-engineer. In 1745 he was taken on by Captain Thomas, Royal Engineers, a subordinate of the
Duke of Cumberland, and together they repaired and extended
Vilvorden Castle's fortifications – they produced a plan of the new scheme which is now in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
.
Military surveyor
At the end of 1745 he returned to England but was soon sent to join the reserves of the force opposing the
1745 Rising
The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took pl ...
in northern England. On 3 January 1747 he was promoted to engineer in ordinary, at which rank he surveyed the
Military Road between
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
and
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...
and led its construction. His next posting was to report back on the defences in
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
in 1751 and his manuscript report (now in the British Library) advised against fortifying the poor position at
Placentia. He returned to England the following year and was sent to
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, from which he worked up the notes of his friend
Kane William Horneck (died 1753) on the defences of
Antigua
Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...
after the latter's premature death. He was painted by
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
in August 1755 after meeting the painter via Hannah, Kane Horneck's widow. He was promoted to captain in 1757 and sent back north, this time to improve the defences of
Clifford's Fort and
Tynemouth Castle
Tynemouth Castle is located on a rocky headland (known as Pen Bal Crag), overlooking Tynemouth Pier. The moated castle-towers, gatehouse and keep are combined with the ruins of the Benedictine priory where early kings of Northumbria were buri ...
.
Later life
George II George II or 2 may refer to:
People
* George II of Antioch (seventh century AD)
* George II of Armenia (late ninth century)
* George II of Abkhazia (916–960)
* Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051)
* George II of Georgia (1072–1089)
* ...
died in 1760 and ten years later Smelt was introduced to his successor
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. The introduction was affected by
Robert D'Arcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, a mutual friend, and George took a liking to Smelt despite their different politics – Smelt supported the
Whigs. Holderness was made governor to George's two eldest sons in April 1771 and gained Smelt the post of deputy governor. They both fell from their positions ten years later – Smelt refused a pension, but did gain the post of
Deputy Ranger of Richmond Park and remained an intimate of George and his wife
Queen Charlotte. Smelt also sent his nephew
Cornelius to a military academy.
In retirement Smelt got to know several literary figures in London, including
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
,
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...
,
David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
,
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"> ...
,
Elizabeth Montagu,
Hannah More
Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a s ...
,
Mrs Delaney,
Sir Lucas Pepys
Sir Lucas Pepys, 1st Baronet (; 1742–1830) was an English physician.
Life
The son of William Pepys, a banker, and his wife Hannah, daughter of Dr. Richard Russell of Brighton, was born in London on 26 May 1742. He was educated at Eton College ...
,
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
,
Charles Burney
Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist a ...
,
Frances Burney
Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...
,
The Hon. Mrs Boscawen and others.
He lived at
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
from 1787 to 1789, meaning he frequently met with Frances Burney and the King during the latter's first bout of 'madness' at
Kew Palace in winter 1788–1789. His wife was a niece of lieutenant general
Joshua Guest
Joshua Guest (1660–1747) was an English lieutenant-general.
Early life
Guest was a Yorkshireman of obscure origin. His mother was Mary Guest, afterwards Smith, and he was a son by a former marriage, or before she was married at all. His epit ...
of Lydgate in
Lightcliffe
Lightcliffe is a village in the Calderdale district in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated approximately three miles east of Halifax and two miles north west of Brighouse. Lightcliffe wa ...
, Yorkshire – they had two daughters, Anne and Dorothy. In 1792, just after his wife's death, Smelt left Kew and returned to Yorkshire, dying at
Great Langton
Great Langton is a small village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. The village lies on the B6271 road, between Scorton and Northallerton, on the northern bank of the River Swale and it was once known as L ...
in 1800.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smelt, Leonard
1719 births
1800 deaths
People from Hambleton District
Royal Engineers officers
British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745
Tutors to the British Royal Household
Military personnel from Yorkshire