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
Lieutenant Colonel Albert Victor Cowley
Member of the Ealing District Council in 1899. Albert Victor Cowley was born in 1860, the third of the four children of Edward Spencer Dickin Cowley (1816-1893) and Selina Cowley née Lindfield (18...
1 memorial
Coal Hole Tavern
The meeting place of the Wolf Club of which in about 1826 Edmund Kean was a leading member. Lawrence Silverman tells us that, later, this was the tavern where Renton Nicholson staged his very rude...
1 memorial
Mitre Tavern
Fleet Street. This pub dates from Shakespeare's time. Johnson and Boswell often visited. It was pulled down in 1829 by Hoares to extend their bank.
1 memorial
Sir Polydore de Keyser
Born Belgium. The family moved to London in 1842 and his father established De Keyser's Royal Hotel on the site of what is now Unilever House. The son joined the business and the hotel became the l...
Person, Commerce, Lord Mayor, Politics & Administration, Belgium
1 memorial
Royal Opera Arcade
Designed by John Nash, completed in 1816-18, considered to be London's oldest existing arcade having survived a fire, dereliction and the blitz. See Her Majesty's Theatre for the history of the bui...
1 memorial
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