Ernest Anthony Smith (25 December 1924 – 27 November 1998) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

historian who specialised in late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century British political history.Stephen Taylor,
Obituary: E. A. Smith
, ''The Independent'' (21 January 1999), retrieved 12 January 2020.

Early life

He was born in

Grimethorpe Grimethorpe is a large village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 4,672 at the 2011 census. Grimethorpe is located to the east of Barnsl ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

and won an open scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1942. However, he was called up for military service and served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He went to Oxford in October 1947 before moving to

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

in 1949 to study a diploma in education.

Academic career

From 1951 until 1954 he was an assistant lecturer at Reading, after being appointed by

Arthur Aspinall The Reverend Arthur "Ashworth" Aspinall (23 June 1846 – 9 June 1929) was a co-founder and the first Principal of The Scots College, Bellevue Hill, Sydney, Australia. He was a Congregational and Presbyterian Minister, and a joint founder of the ...

, the professor of history. Smith was successively lecturer (1954–64), senior lecturer (1964–76) and reader (1976–90) at Reading. Smith was employed by both Aspinall and

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ameri ...

as a research assistant on ''

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 ...

'' project. He was also joint editor (with Aspinall) of ''English Historical Documents, 1783-1832'' (1959). His first book was a biography of William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, a Whig politician. His biography also shed light on the survival of Whig principles from the age of

Lord Rockingham Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782; styled The Hon. Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1733, Viscount Higham between 1733 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750 and The Marquess of Rocking ...

and

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">N ...

to the era of Charles Grey and

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and a ...

. Smith wrote a biography of Grey, which was published in 1990, and a biography of

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 ...

, published in 1999. In his last years he was working on a biography of

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

, whom he liked. He also aimed to write the biography

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 ...

, whom he considered "an evil old man". In 1991 he was awarded a LittD from Cambridge. He was also instrumental in the founding of

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

Personal life

Smith married Daphine Greenhaigh in 1948, with whom he had a son and a daughter. They divorced in 1978, whereupon Smith married Anne Pallister, who died 1986. In 1988 he married Virginia Willcox. Smith died in Redhill, Surrey on 27 November 1998.

Works

*''Whig Principles and Party Politics: Earl Fitzwilliam and the Whig Party, 1748-1833'' (1975) *''Lord Grey, 1764-1845'' (1990) *''A Queen on Trial'' (1993) *''George IV'' (1999); for the Yale English Monarchs series

Notes

1924 births 1998 deaths 20th-century English historians People educated at Thorne Grammar School People from Grimethorpe Alumni of the University of Reading Academics of the University of Reading Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Military personnel from South Yorkshire Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen {{UK-historian-stub