Leonard Smelt ( – 30 May 1740) of

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. ...

, North Riding of Yorkshire, was an English Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

between 1709 and 1740.

Early life

Smelt was the eldest son of Leonard Smelt of

and his wife Grace Frankland, daughter of

Sir William Frankland, 1st Baronet Sir William Frankland, 1st Baronet (c. 1640 – 2 August 1697) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1671 to 1685. Frankland was the eldest son of Sir Henry Frankland of Thirkelby, Yorkshire. On 24 December ...

. He was admitted at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

in 1700. His brother was William Smelt. He married Elizabeth Whitaker.

Career

In 1709, in an unopposed by-election on 6 May for

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological fin ...

, Smelt became the first person in his family to be an MP. This was thanks to an agreement between

Ralph Bell Ralph Albert "Lefty" Bell (November 16, 1890 – October 18, 1959) was a professional baseball pitcher from 1909 to 1916.Thomas Frankland, the two main interests in the constituency, whereby Bell agreed to support Smelt in return for Frankland supporting Bell's nominee at the next election. In 1710 Smelt succeeded his father to Kirkby Fleetham. In Parliament, he voted in favour of the impeachment of

Henry Sacheverell Henry Sacheverell (; 8 February 1674 – 5 June 1724) was an English high church Anglican clergyman who achieved nationwide fame in 1709 after preaching an incendiary 5 November sermon. He was subsequently impeached by the House of Commons and ...

. He stood down from Thirsk at the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

as per the Frankland-Bell agreement but was returned for

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...

at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 Robert Harley had led a government appointed after the downfall of the Whig Junto, attempting to pursue a moderate and non-controversial policy, b ...

. He voted against the expulsion of Richard Steel. Smelt was returned unopposed as MP for Northallerton at the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the 1707 merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In October 1714, soon afte ...

, after the

House of Hanover The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house orig ...

took the British throne. He supported the Whig government and was appointed commissioner for army debts in 1715. He was returned unopposed again at the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

and was appointed clerk of deliveries at the

Board of Ordnance 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 1722. At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

he was returned unopposed for Northallerton again. He was promoted to clerk at the Board of Ordnance in 1733. He was returned again for Northallerton at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

Later life and legacy

Smelt paid for

to have a public clock and like his father was a trustee of Kettlewell's charity, which provided the town's poor with education, clothes, medicine and Bibles. Smelt died without issue on 30 May 1740. The manor of Kirkby Fleetham passed to the Aislabie family.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smelt, Leonard 1683 births 1740 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741