Thomas Assheton Smith (the younger) (2 August 1776 – 9 September 1858) was an English landowner and all-round sportsman who was notable for being one of the outstanding amateur

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

ers of the early 19th century. He was a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1821 to 1837. He was also known for his pioneering work on the design of

steam yacht A steam yacht is a class of luxury or commercial yacht with primary or secondary steam propulsion in addition to the sails usually carried by yachts. Origin of the name The English steamboat entrepreneur George Dodd (1783–1827) used the term ...

s in conjunction with the Scottish marine engineer Robert Napier.

Early life

Smith was born in Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, London. He was the second son of Elizabeth ( Wynn) Smith and

Thomas Assheton Smith I 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 A ...

(1752–1828), who made his fortune in the Welsh slate industry and was a noted patron of cricket in the early years of

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) from the 1787 English cricket season. He had five sisters and an elder brother, John, who was expelled from the family after marrying a servant, paving the way for Thomas to become his father's heir. His younger brother, William, saw action at

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * The Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England Trafalgar may also refer to: Places * Cape Trafalgar, a headland in ...

on but drowned in 1806. Smith was educated at Eton between 1783 and 1794, eventually playing for the school's cricket team. He went on to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

where he joined the

Bullingdon Club The Bullingdon Club is a private all-male dining club for Oxford University students. It is known for its wealthy members, grand banquets, and bad behaviour, including vandalism of restaurants and students' rooms. The club selects its members ...

and was a prominent member of its team in 1796.

Career

Smith was elected Member of Parliament representing

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 * Andov ...

in 1821 and held the seat until 1831; at the 1832 general election he was elected MP for

Caernarvonshire Caernarfonshire (; , ), previously spelled Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales. Geography The county ...

and held the seat until 1837. He was

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) high sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

in 1838.

Cricket career

Smith was a hard hitting right-handed batsman and made 45 known appearances in first-class matches up to the 1820 season. His career spanned the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

which had a detrimental effect on the game and so reduced his opportunities for playing. Smith played for the Gentlemen in the inaugural and second

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of cricket matches that began in July 1806 and was abolished in January 1963. It was a match between a team consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and a team consisting of professionals (the Players ...

matches in 1806. According to ''Scores & Biographies'' (S&B), Smith "being a good hard hitter was pretty successful". He was also, says S&B, a "crack" shot and a "mighty hunter" who acquired the name of the "British Nimrod". In the contemporary scorecards, he is generally shown as "T A Smith, Esq." whereas his father was usually recorded as "A Smith, Esq."

Foxhunting

From 1806 to 1816, Smith was Master of the

Quorn Hunt The Quorn Hunt, usually called the Quorn, established in 1696, is one of the world's oldest fox hunting packs and claims to be the United Kingdom's most famous hunt. Its country is mostly in Leicestershire, together with some smaller areas of ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, then from 1816 to 1824 of the Burton hounds in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. He established his pack at Penton, near

, Hampshire, in 1826. In 1834 he bought many of Sir Thomas Burghley's hounds and in 1842 the whole pack of the

Duke of Grafton Duke of Grafton is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1675 by Charles II of England for Henry FitzRoy, his second illegitimate son by the Duchess of Cleveland. The most notable duke of Grafton was Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke o ...

. He hunted his hounds four days a week and sometimes had two packs out on the same day. In 1830, after the death of his father, he moved his stable and kennels to

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. The house and its grounds were in Hampshire until 1991, when the county boundary was redrawn ...

, also in Hampshire.

Yachting

Assheton Smith spent summers at his Vaynol Park estate in North Wales, on the shore of the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait () is a strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd, on the mainland of Wales. It is situated between Caernarfon Bay in the south-west and Conwy Bay in the north-east, which are both inlets of the Irish Sea. The s ...

and close to the family's slate quarries at Dinorwic. He had several sailing yachts built, then in 1829 engaged Scottish engineer and shipbuilder Robert Napier to build the first of what would become eight

s, which were among the first vessels of their kind. Assheton Smith contributed to their design, in particular seeking an efficient hull design to maximise speed.

Personal life

On 29 October 1827, Smith married Matilda Webber (d. 1859) of Berkshire. They had no children. During his ownership of the Tedworth estate, the house was rebuilt in ornate classical style. Smith died at Vaynol Park, Bangor, Caernarvonshire on 9 September 1858 and was buried at Tedworth, where he lived in his later years. His widow died the following year on 18 May 1859.

References

Bibliography

* Arthur Haygarth, ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826)'', Lillywhite, 1862. *

External links

*
CricketArchive profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Thomas Assheton II 1776 births 1858 deaths People educated at Eton College English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 19th-century English landowners Gentlemen cricketers Hampshire cricketers High sheriffs of Wiltshire Masters of foxhounds in England Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 Tory MPs (pre-1834) Bullingdon Club members