George Smith

Who was George Smith?

George Smith was a British Member of Parliament, banker and director of the East India Company.

He was the fifth son of Abel Smith, a wealthy Nottingham banker and Member of Parliament. Four of his brothers were also Members of Parliament and one, Robert, was raised to the peerage as Baron Carrington. A portion of the family wealth was devoted to buying control of two pocket boroughs, Wendover and Midhurst, and Carrington kept the seats here almost exclusively for use by various members of the Smith family until his power was ended by the Great Reform Act.

Smith entered Parliament in 1791 as member for Lostwithiel, and also represented Midhurst and Wendover in a parliamentary career spread over forty years.

Smith lived at Selsdon in Surrey. He married Frances Mary Mosley, daughter of Sir John Parker Mosley, 1st Baronet and they had 9 sons and 6 daughters: George Robert MP m. Jane Maberly, Oswald m. Henrietta Mildred Hodgson, John Henry, Thomas Charles, Edward Peploe m.1 Henrietta Bailey m.2 Harriet Chester, Arthur, Edmund m. Hester Lushington, Mosley, Alfred m. Mary Wigram, Frances Mary m. the Venerable Robert Mosley Master, Georgina Elizabeth m. Rev Edward Sorocold, Emily m.