General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Lionel Smith, 1st Baronet (9 October 1778 – 2 January 1842) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

diplomat, colonial administrator, and soldier.

Life

His mother was noted writer and feminist Charlotte Smith. His father was Benjamin Smith, and his paternal grandfather was Richard Smith, a wealthy merchant and slave-owner. In 1821, General Smith, then serving in the

Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India. It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferred all presidencies to the ...

, commanded a punitive campaign against the Bani Bu Ali tribe in

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

. Lionel Smith was

Governor of Tobago This article lists governors of Tobago. Governors of Tobago have been referred to by the formal titles of "Governor" and "Lieutenant-Governor". For governors of the united Trinidad and Tobago after 1889 see List of Governors of Trinidad and Tobago ...

in 1833 and then

Governor of Barbados This article contains a list of viceroys in Barbados from its initial colonisation in 1627 by England until it achieved independence in 1966. From 1833 to 1885, Barbados was part of the colony of the Windward Islands, and the governor of Barbad ...

(1833–1836),

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

of the colony of

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea No ...

(which then included Grenada) from 1833 to 1836. He was awarded a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

cy on 19 July 1838 for his service as

Governor of Jamaica This is a list of viceroys in Jamaica from its initial occupation by Spain in 1509, to its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. For a list of viceroys after independence, see Governor-General of Jamaica. For context, see History of Jama ...

from 1836 to 1839. During his governorship, the United Kingdom passed the Abolition Act that stated that slavery "shall be and is hereby utterly abolished and unlawful". On 1 August 1838, Governor Sir Lionel read th
Proclamation of Freedom
to a crowd of 8,000 at the Celebration of

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...

in the Square of

Spanish Town Spanish Town ( jam, label= Jamaican Creole, Panish Tong) is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. T ...

, the then capital of Jamaica. The day has since been a day of celebration on Jamaica and a public holiday since 1893. He was made Colonel of the 96th Regiment of Foot from 1832 to 1834 and later of the

40th Regiment of Foot The 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1717 in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) ...

from 1837 for life. He left Jamaica in 1839 having run into difficulties with the passing of the Prisons Act and dissolving Jamaica's Assembly. Lionel Town, Clarendon is named after the Governor. He was the fifth Governor of Mauritius from 16 July 1840 to 2 January 1842.

Family

Smith was twice married: #With his first wife, Ellen Marianne (d. 1814), daughter of Thomas Galway of Killery, co. Kerry, he had two daughters, Ellen Maria and Mary Anne. #On 20 November 1819 he married Isabella Curwen, youngest daughter of Eldred Curwen Pottinger of Mount Pottinger, co. Down, and sister of Sir Henry Pottinger. She died three days after her husband, leaving four children, Lionel Eldred, Augusta, Isabella, and Charlotte. Isabella married

George Floyd Duckett Sir George Floyd Duckett, 3rd Baronet (1811–1902) was an English army officer, antiquarian and lexicographer. He wrote on his Duckett ancestry, his paternal grandfather having married a Duckett heiress. Life Born at 15 Spring Gardens, Westminst ...

in 1845.

References

External links

''The Road to Freedom''
Jamaica Gleaner
''Emancipation''
in the Jamaica Archives
''Prorogation of the Jamaica Assembly''
History of Europe by Archibald Alison ;Attribution , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Lionel, 1st Baronet 1778 births 1842 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British Army generals Governors of the Windward Islands Governors of Barbados Governors of Jamaica Governors of British Tobago Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath