John Smith (1656–1723) of

Tedworth House Tedworth House, also known as South Tidworth House, is a 19th-century country house in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is used by the charity Help for Heroes. The house and its grounds were in Hampshire until ...

, Hampshire, 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 ...

politician who sat in the

and

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

between 1678 and 1723. He served as Speaker and twice as

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

Early life

Smith was the fourth, but only surviving, son of John Smith of Tedworth House,

South Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison, garrison town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 road, A338 about north of the A303 road, A303 primary ro ...

, Hampshire and his wife Mary Wright, daughter of Sir Edmund Wright, alderman, of London. His sister Anne married

Sir Samuel Dashwood Sir Samuel Dashwood JP ( – 12 August 1705) was an English merchant and Tory politician. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1702. Early life The son of Francis Dashwood, a London merchant, by his wife Alice Sleigh, he was a brother of Sir Francis ...

, MP and Lord Mayor of London. He matriculated at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, on 18 May 1672, aged 16, and was admitted at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1674. His father died in 1690 and he succeeded to his estate, and then to the estate of his uncle Thomas Smith in 1692.

Career

Smith was a moderate Whig. He was first elected as

Member 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 ...

for Ludgershall at a contest in February 1679, but was defeated in the second election of the year in August. He stood again in 1681, and there was a double return, which was not resolved before the end of that Parliament. In 1689 he was returned unopposed as MP for Ludgershall. Smith was returned as MP for

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. History and geography With a population of about 2,000, the village lies in the Bere peninsula, between the river ...

at a by-election on 15 December 1691. In 1694 he was appointed as a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

and became a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 23 May 1695. At the 1695 general election he was returned unopposed as MP for

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

. From 1695 to 1697 he was a Commissioner for Prize Appeals. He was returned unopposed again as MP for Andover at the 1698 general election. On 2 June 1699 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was elected as MP for Andover again at the first general election of 1701, but although he was asked to continue as Chancellor, felt uncomfortable in a changed Parliament and resigned on 27 March 1701. In the second general election of 1701 and in that of 1702 he was re-elected MP for Andover. He was returned unopposed for Andover at the 1705 general election and was chosen as

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

in 1705. In 1706 he was a Commissioner for the Union with Scotland, and was the last

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

House of Commons of England The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of ...

. After the

Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

, he became the first

of the new

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of th ...

. He was proposed for this position by his joint partner in the Company of Scotland,

Francis Montgomerie Francis Montgomerie (1645–c.1728) of Giffen, Ayr was a Scottish politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1689 to 1707 and in the British House of Commons from 1707 to 1710 . Life Montgomerie was the second son of Hugh Mont ...

of Giffen. At the

1708 general election Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

Smith was returned unopposed as MP for Andover, and subsequently gave up his position as Speaker when he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer again on 22 April 1708. He ceased to be Chancellor at the dissolution of Parliament on 11 August 1710, and was returned unopposed for Andover at the 1710 election. He was then appointed to the lucrative post of Teller of the Exchequer. He refused to stand for Parliament at the 1713 election, offended by suggestions that the ministry had him under control. His post of Teller was renewed in 1714 and he held it for the rest of his life. Smith was returned as Member of Parliament for East Looe at the general elections in

1715 Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...

and 1722.

Personal life

He married Anne Steward, daughter of Sir Nicholas Steward, 1st Baronet, of Hartley Mauditt, Hampshire on 1 September 1679. Anne died in 1680 and he married secondly Anne Strickland, daughter of Sir Thomas Strickland of Boynton, Yorkshire by licence dated 7 November 1683. Smith died on 2 October 1723 and was buried in the old church at South Tidworth. He and his second wife had four sons and three daughters, including Mary Smith and Anne Smith, Lady Grant. His son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

was also a Whig Member of Parliament.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John 1650s births 1723 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Chancellors of the Exchequer of England Chancellors of the Exchequer of Great Britain Speakers of the House of Commons of England Speakers of the House of Commons of Great Britain Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Place of birth missing Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies English MPs 1679 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston