Henry Babington Smith

Sir Henry Babington Smith
Born	Putney, London, England
Died	September 29, 1923(1923-09-29) (aged 60)
Occupation(s)	Civil servant, financier
Known for	Director of the Bank of England; significant international financial positions; presidency of National Bank of Turkey

Sir Henry Babington Smith (29 January 1863 – 29 September 1923) was a distinguished British civil servant and financier who occupied significant international financial positions before taking on a directorship at the Bank of England. Connected to the Babington family through his maternal grandmother Mary, his lineage adopted the combined surname Babington Smith.

Early life and education

Smith was born at Riverbank in Putney, London, as the son of Archibald Smith, a lawyer and mathematician. His siblings included James Parker Smith, who later became a Member of Parliament, and Arthur Hamilton Smith, who served as Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum. He received his education at Eton College followed by Trinity College, Cambridge, where he pursued studies in classics and was a member of the Cambridge Apostle society.

Career

Smith’s career commenced at the Board of Education in 1887 as an examiner. By 1891, he advanced to principal private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Goschen. In 1894, he took on the role of private secretary to Lord Elgin upon his appointment as Viceroy of India. In 1898, he married Lady Elisabeth Mary Bruce, Lord Elgin’s eldest daughter. For his contributions in India, he was honored as a Companion of the Order of the Star of India (CSI) in 1897.

After returning to Britain in 1899, Smith acted as Treasury representative in Natal during the South African War. The following year, he joined the Council of Administration for the Ottoman Public Debt in Egypt, becoming its chairman in 1901 and earning the Osmanieh Order, Class 1. In 1903, he was appointed secretary to the General Post Office, receiving the Companion (CB) and subsequently Knight Commander (KCB) distinctions within the Order of the Bath by 1908.

In 1909, Smith assumed presidency of the newly founded National Bank of Turkey based in Constantinople. He declined an offer to become Governor of Bombay to avoid imposing peerage responsibilities on his family. Throughout World War I, he undertook crucial financial duties including deputy governorship at the British Trade Corporation and participated in the Anglo-French Financial Commission's mission to the United States in 1915. He was awarded membership in the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 1917 and served alongside Lord Reading as Assistant Commissioner and Minister Plenipotentiary to the US in 1918.

Following the war, Smith chaired both the Indian Finance and Currency Committee in 1919 and the Railway Amalgamation Tribunal in 1921. He joined the Board of Directors at the Bank of England in 1920 and was honored with Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) for his wartime contributions in America.

Family

Babington Smith wed Lady Elizabeth Bruce (1877–1944), eldest daughter of Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, Viceroy of India. Together they had nine children:

• Michael Babington Smith (1901–1984): Brigadier, CBE, TD
• Henry Babington Smith (1902–1982)
• Bernard Babington Smith (1905–1993): OBE
• Margaret Babington Smith (1907–1997), spouse of Charles de Bunsen
• David Babington Smith (1909–1989)
• Lucy Babington Smith (1910–2005), married to Henry Sinclair, 2nd Baron Pentland
• Constance Babington Smith (1912–2000): MBE, Legion of Merit
• Susan Babington Smith (1917–2003), wife of Sir Anthony Wakefield Cox
• Elizabeth Babington Smith (1921–2008): MD, FFARCS, married Reece Lloyd-Jones

The family’s residences included Chinthurst in Wonersh and later Vineyards in Saffron Waldren.

References

• Obituary, The Times, 1 October 1923
• "Here be Forebears – The Ancestry of Archibald Smith II of Jordanhill", H.E. Babington Smith, 1997