William Henry Smith. Bookseller and politician. The son in "W. H. Smith and Son". He introduced the W. H. Smith stalls at railway stations and the business thrived. Entered politics in 1868. Appointed First Lord of the Admiralty when he had little naval experience and so thought to be the model for Sir Joseph (ruler-of-the-Queen's-Nav-ee) Porter in Gilbert & Sullivan's 'H.M.S. Pinafore'. Promoted the Baconian Theory, the idea that Francis Bacon wrote the plays commonly attributed to Shakespeare. Father of Lord Hambleden.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
W. H. Smith
Commemorated ati
W. H. Smith - W2
London County Council W. H. Smith, 1825 - 1891, bookseller and statesman, li...
Other Subjects
Jones's butcher's shop
Family business that survived until the 1970s. This photograph was taken in 1932.
Henry Shrubsole
Banker, draper and former mayor of Kingston upon Thames: 1877, 1878 and 1879. At an annual dinner given for the poor, he had just finished his speech and was in the act of presenting a small packet...
Harkness Roses
Rose growing company, founded in Yorkshire by brothers John and Robert Harkness, and still run as a family firm.
W. F. D. Smith, Lord Hambleden
On his father's death in 1891 he became head of the family firm of W.H. Smith and Son and also took over as MP for the Strand Division, until 1910. Chairman of King's College Hospital. Became 2nd V...
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