William Herbert "Harry" Smith, 4th Viscount Hambleden (2 April 1930 – 2 August 2012) was a British peer and descendant of the founders of the stationery group

W H Smith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service st ...

Life and family

Smith was the son of

William Smith, 3rd Viscount Hambleden William Henry Smith, 3rd Viscount Hambleden (25 July 1903 – 31 March 1948), was a British peer and a descendant of the founders of stationery group W H Smith, who was chairman and owner of the firm from 1928 until his death. Early life and ...

, and Patricia ''née'' Herbert, a descendant of the

Earls of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...

and the

Vorontsov family The House of Vorontsov (), also Woroncow and de Woroncow-Wojtkowicz, is the name of a Russian nobility, Russian noble family whose members attained the dignity of Counts of the Holy Roman Empire in 1744 and became Princes of the Russian Empir ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. He succeeded to the title of 4th

Viscount Hambleden Viscount Hambleden, of Hambleden in the Buckinghamshire, County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1891 (as Viscountess Hambleden) for Emily Danvers Smith, 1st Viscountess Hambleden, Emily Danvers ...

after the death of his father in 1948.Lundy, Darryl
"William Herbert Smith, 4th Viscount Hambleden"
The Peerage, p. 2113, accessed 10 October 2012 Smith married Countess Maria Carmela Attolico di Adelfia in 1955. The couple had five sons: * William Henry (born 1955) *Bernardo James (born 1957) *Alexander David (born 1959) *Nicolas Robin Bartolomeo (born 1960) *Lorenzo Patrick Harold (born 1962) After the couple's divorce in 1988, Smith married Lesley Watson and lived in America,Viscount Hambleden dies of cancer
, ''Henley Standard,'' 8 August 2012 while his first wife continued to live in the Manor House in

Hambleden Hambleden is a small village and civil parish in southwest Buckinghamshire, England. The village is around west of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow, and around northeast of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The civil parish also includes the vi ...

, Buckinghamshire, England. He sold off most of the family estate in 2007. Smith died of cancer on 2 August 2012 at his home in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, at the age of 82. His funeral was held on 31 August 2012 at St. Mary the Virgin, Hambleden. Upon his death, his eldest son succeeded to his title.Hambleden death announcement
''The Telegraph'', 8 August 2012

Life and family

References

Further reading