Born in Leith, Smith (1805-1881) was a solicitor of radical instincts who in 1839 through Richard Cobden became a lecturer for the Anti-Corn Law League, soon becoming one of their most popular speakers. He moved to London in 1841 to take appointment as secretary to the Metropolitan Anti-Corn Law Association and became an election agent, master-minding the election of a free trade candidate in the City of London in 1843. He was then made secretary of the City of London Liberal Registration Association, a post he held for thirty-three years. From 1847 to 1858 he ran election campaigns of Baron Lionel de Rothschild which culminated in the bill enabling Jews to take their seats in parliament.
On this day 30-9-1805
—
by