Person    | Male  Died 12/4/1917

W. H. Smith

War dead, WW1 i

Commemorated on a memorial as having died in WW1.

Major William Hammond Smith whose birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1886 in the Cambridge registration district was a son of Charles Smith (1844-1916) and Annie Smith née Hopkins (1858-1944). His father was the Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Our picture source gives a biography of his life, listing his education at Tonbridge School, Kent and Blundell's School, Tiverton, Devon, together with his military service and the circumstances of his death.

The 1891 census shows him living at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, with his parents, three siblings: Charles Hammond Smith (1884-1959), Sidney Neville Smith DSC (1887-1958) and Geoffrey Bertram Smith (1889-1957), together with a cook, a head nurse, a housemaid, a parlour-maid, an under nurse, a page, the College Porter and his wife.

Having attended St Faith's School, Cambridge, and Tonbridge School, Kent, the 1901 census shows him as a student, boarding at School House, Blundell's School, Tiverton. He was a Royal Academy Schools student from 26 January 1909 until December 1912 and in the 1911 census he is recorded as an artist (painter), living at The Master's Lodge, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, with his parents, his brother Sidney, his maternal great aunt Ann Eliza Hopkins (1831-1914), a cook, a housemaid and a parlour-maid.

Examples of his artistry, included that of a portrait of his father, are still on display at Sidney Sussex College.

He was killed in action, aged 31 years, on 17 April 1917 and was buried in Row B, Grave 9, in the Athies Communal Cemetery Extension, 5000F Rue d'Arras, Athies, France. Probate records show his address to have been 3 Belvoir Terrace, Cambridge and when administration was granted to his widowed mother his effects totalled £1,254-17s-10d. By 1 May 1918 she had also been sent his army effects totalling £206-11s-1d. 

He was posthumously awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal to which was attached the Oak Leaf Emblem for being Mentioned in Despatches. These were sent to his mother in November 1924 to her address at 3 Belvoir Terrace, Trumpington Road, Cambridge.

He is also commemorated as one of the 159 former pupils of Blundell's School who were killed in WW1 on the set of stones on the northern side of the main school building, near the War Memorial Cross, on the memorial in All Saints' Church, Jesus Lane, Cambridge and on the Sidney Sussex College war memorial

Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.

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

RA War Memorial

To the memory of those students of the Royal Academy who fell in this Great W...

Read More

Other Subjects

E. L. Loosemore

E. L. Loosemore

WW2 civilian death in Loughton.

Person

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
C. A. H. Smith
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
A. Turrell
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Lance Corporal Albert Thomas Read

Lance Corporal Albert Thomas Read

Albert Thomas Read was born on 15 August 1910 in Finsbury, London, the tenth of the eleven children of William John Read (1867-1948) and Hannah Maud Read née Sweeny (1874-1949). His birth was regis...

Person, Armed Forces, Egypt

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
Wallace Bligh Cheesman

Wallace Bligh Cheesman

Trade unionist in the General Post Office (affiliated to the Western District Office).  Became Secretary of the Fawcett Association in 1892, a post from which he was dismissed, together with the ch...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Sir Francis Gosling

Sir Francis Gosling

Alderman of the St Dunstan's ward in 1760.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Firemen Randolph & Skinner

Firemen Randolph & Skinner

WC1, Tavistock Square, Woburn House

This plaque was rededicated to the memory of the two firemen in a ceremony on 16 April 2011.

Civilian war dead | WW2
4 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Albert Bruce-Joy

Albert Bruce-Joy

Sculptor. Born Dublin. Exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1866. His prolific output includes busts in Westminster Abbey.

Person, Sculpture, Ireland

1 memorial
Temple Bar memorial - Edward VII

Temple Bar memorial - Edward VII

EC4, Fleet Street

The niche on the north face holds a marble statue of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, in Field Marshal's uniform. Carved in the sto...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
General Post Office plaque

General Post Office plaque

EC4, King William Street, Post Office Court

The plaque is in this passageway close to the entrance photographed.  The sculpture panel is further in, attached to the wall on the left...

1 subject commemorated