General Sir Lionel Smith, 1st Baronet GCB GCH (9 October 1778 – 2 January 1842) was a British diplomat, colonial administrator, and soldier.

Life

His mother was noted writer and feminist Charlotte Smith. His father was Benjamin Smith, and his paternal grandfather was Richard Smith, a wealthy merchant and enslaver.[1]

In 1821, General Smith, then serving in the Bombay Army, commanded a punitive campaign against the Bani Bu Ali tribe in Oman. Lionel Smith was Governor of Tobago in 1833 and then Governor of Barbados (1833–1836), Viceroy of the colony of Windward Islands (which then included Grenada) from 1833 to 1836. He was awarded a baronetcy on 19 July 1838 for his service as Governor of Jamaica from 1836 to 1839.

During his governorship, the United Kingdom passed the Abolition Act that stated that slavery "shall be and is hereby utterly abolished and unlawful". On 1 August 1838, Governor Sir Lionel read the Proclamation of Freedom to a crowd of 8,000 at the celebration of emancipation in the Square of Spanish Town, the then capital of Jamaica. The day has been a Jamaican celebration and public holiday since 1893.

He was made Colonel of the 96th Regiment of Foot from 1832 to 1834 and later of the 40th Regiment of Foot from 1837 for life.

He left Jamaica in 1839, having run into difficulties with the passing of the Prisons Act and dissolving Jamaica's Assembly. Lionel Town, Clarendon is named after the Governor.

He was the fifth Governor of Mauritius from 16 July 1840 to 2 January 1842.[2]

Family

Smith was twice married:[3][4]

  1. With his first wife, Ellen Marianne (d. 1814), daughter of Thomas Galway of Killery, County Kerry, he had two daughters, Ellen Maria and Mary Anne.
  2. On 20 November 1819 he married Isabella Curwen, youngest daughter of Eldred Curwen Pottinger of Mount Pottinger, County Down, and sister of Sir Henry Pottinger. She died three days after her husband, leaving four children, Lionel Eldred, Augusta, Isabella, and Charlotte. Isabella married George Floyd Duckett in 1845.[5]

References

  1. ^ John Bernard Burke (1845). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. H. Colburn. p. 914.
  2. ^ "Mauritius". worldstatesmen.org.
  3. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Smith, Lionel" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  4. ^ John Debrett (1839). The Baronetage of England. J. G. & F. Rivington. p. 463.
  5. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "Duckett, George Floyd" . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

External links

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Smith, Lionel". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Baronetage of the United Kingdom New creation Baronet(of Jamaica) 1838–1842 Succeeded byLionel Smith-Gordon Government offices Preceded byNathaniel Blackwell Governor of Tobago 1833 Succeeded byHenry Darling Preceded bySir James Frederick Lyon Governor of Barbados and the Windward Islands 1833–1836 Succeeded bySir Evan John Murray MacGregor Preceded byThe Marquess of Sligo Governor of Jamaica 1836–1839 Succeeded bySir Charles Metcalfe, Bt Preceded bySir William Nicolay Governor of Mauritius 1840–1842 Succeeded bySir William Maynard Gomm Military offices Preceded bySir George Cooke Colonel of the 40th Regiment of Foot 1837–1842 Succeeded bySir Alexander George Woodford Preceded bySir Edward Barnes Colonel of the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1834–1837 Succeeded byPaul Anderson Preceded bySir Joseph Fuller Colonel of the 96th Regiment of Foot 1832–1834 Succeeded bySir William Thornton
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