Person    | Male  Born 24/6/1825  Died 6/10/1891

W. H. Smith

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

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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...

Read More

Other Subjects

Charles Jellicoe

Charles Jellicoe

Co-executor, with Edwin Bedford, to Mary Gray Ratray who died in 1873. Lived and/or worked at 12 Cavendish Place. In the Madras Catholic Directory and General Annual Register for the Year of our L...

Person, Commerce

1 memorial
Great Exhibition

Great Exhibition

From the V&A website: "The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations was held in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. It was the first international exhibition of manufacture...

Event, Commerce, Museums / Libraries

13 memorials
Acorn Restorations

Acorn Restorations

Metalwork restorers.

Group, Commerce

1 memorial
St Saviour’s Dock

St Saviour’s Dock

Our picture source, HSomerville provides a thorough history of this area and says "St Saviour's Dock was created in the 13th century by the Cluniac monks of Bermondsey Abbey."

Place, Commerce, Transport

1 memorial
Hugh Mason

Hugh Mason

Records are sparse but it seems Mason owned a shop in St James's Market and in 1734 was appointed as porter at "His Majesty's Royal Palace of Somerset House". See William Fortnum for a few more wor...

Person, Commerce

1 memorial