Martin Tucker Smith (6 July 1803 – 10 October 1880) was an English banker and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician.

Biography

Early life

Martin Tucker Smith was born on 6 July 1803. He was the second son of John Smith (1767–1842), and his wife Elizabeth (née Tucker). His father was a member of the family which owned the

Smith's Bank Smith's Bank was a series of English banking partnerships in London and the provinces, all controlled by the Smith family that operated between 1658 and 1918. Although Smith's Bank was never a single entity, the first bank was established in N ...

group of companies, and Martin joined the family business, becoming a partner in the London bank Smith, Payne and Smiths.

Career

Like his father and many of his ancestors, Smith entered politics. At the 1831 general election he was elected as one of the two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MPs) for

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

in the control of his first cousin

Lord Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton, (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secret ...

. However, the borough's representation was reduced to one member in 1832, and Smith stood down. He did not re-enter Parliament until the 1847 general election when he was elected unopposed as one of the two MPs for the borough of Wycombe in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. He was re-elected at the next three general elections, before standing down at the 1865 general election.

Personal life and death

In 1831, he married Louisa Ridley, the daughter of

Sir Matthew White Ridley, 3rd Baronet Sir Matthew White Ridley, 3rd Baronet (18 April 1778 – 14 July 1836) was a politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1813 until his death in 1836. He inherited the baronetcy on the death in ...

; they had ten children. His third son Gerard Smith (1839–1920) was a

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 and banker who served as MP for Wycombe from 1883 to 1885, and as

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

from 1895 to 1900. After his death in 1880 at the age of 77, his estate was valued at £350,000 (equivalent to £ in values).

References

External links

* 1803 births 1880 deaths Directors of the British East India Company English bankers Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 19th-century English businesspeople {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub