Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Richard Smith (baptised 1734 – 3 July 1803) was

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company rule in India and the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the British Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

of the East India Company (Bengal).

Early life

He was the eldest son of John Smith, cheesemonger, of

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers. Hist ...

, St. James’s, in what is now

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

.Richard Smith at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref>

Military career

He served in India as an ensign in the

Madras Army The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company until the Government ...

in 1752, rising to the rank of captain. In 1761 returned to London and became a prominent shareholder in the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. When he went out to India again in 1764 it was as

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of one of the East India Company's three

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

s. In 1767 he was promoted to

.The Bengal almanac, for 1827, compiled by S. Smith and Co., Page XX
/ref> He was made Brigadier-General in 1768 before retiring in 1770.

Political career

In 1774 he went into politics and was briefly elected to Parliament as the member for Hindon, Wiltshire, by spending 15 guineas per vote. On petition the election was declared void due to bribery by the winning candidates. He and his fellow candidate, Thomas Brand Hollis, were prosecuted, fined one thousand marks, and imprisoned for six months. In a rerun of the election Brand Hollis withdrew his name but Smith was re-elected. He later served as MP for Wendover in 1780 and as MP for Wareham in 1790. He was appointed High Sheriff of Berkshire for 1779–80. He became notorious as a

nabob A nabob is a conspicuously wealthy man deriving his fortune in the east, especially in India during the 18th century with the privately held East India Company. Etymology ''Nabob'' is an Anglo-Indian term that came to English from Urdu, poss ...

, one of the Englishmen returned from India with considerable wealth, and may have served as a "type" for Samuel Foote's 1772 play of that title. He was satirically attacked by a Captain Joseph Price and a portrait of him appeared opposite that of

Elizabeth Armistead Elizabeth Bridget Armistead or Armitstead (11 July 1750 – 8 July 1842) was a courtesan and, later, the spouse of statesman and politician Charles James Fox. Her relationship with and marriage to Fox was one of the most famous and controvers ...

(one of the favourite courtesans, and eventually the wife, of

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...

) in '' Town and Country Magazine''. He gambled huge amounts, on horses and at cards, and is said to have lost heavily to Fox.

Family and descendants

He lived at Chiltern Lodge near Hungerford in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. In 1756 he married Amelia Hopkins, the daughter of master mariner Captain Charles Hopkins. His ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' entry says only that the couple had a son and a daughter, without naming them. He is also known to have had an illegitimate daughter via his sister-in-law Sarah Hopkins. This daughter was named Amelia and she later married William Marsh. The ''

History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in w ...

'' contains a biography both for him, stating that in 1780 he purchased a seat at Wendover for an unnamed son, and for a

John Mansell Smith John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, which says he was the only son of Richard Smith.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Richard 1734 births 1803 deaths People from Westminster People from Hungerford Madras Staff Corps officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British Commanders-in-Chief of India British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1790–1796 British East India Company Army generals High Sheriffs of Berkshire Military personnel from London British politicians convicted of crimes