John Benjamin Smith was an English Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1847 to 1874.

Smith was the son of Benjamin Smith, a merchant of Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

. He was himself a merchant and was president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 from 1839 to 1841. He was the first chairman of the Anti-Corn Law League

Anti-Corn Law League

The Anti-Corn Law League was in effect the resumption of the Anti-Corn Law Association, which had been created in London in 1836 but did not obtain widespread popularity. The Anti-Corn Law League was founded in Manchester in 1838...

. He was a Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 and author of several economics works.

Smith stood unsuccessfully for parliament at Blackburn

Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)

Blackburn is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The town currently elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It has elected Labour MPs since its re-creation in 1955.-Boundaries:The constituency...

 in 1837, and at Walsall

Walsall (UK Parliament constituency)

Walsall was a borough constituency centred on the town of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....

 and Dundee

Dundee (UK Parliament constituency)

Dundee was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1950, when it was split into Dundee East and Dundee West....

 in 1841. In 1847 he was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Stirling Burghs

Stirling Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Stirling Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 to 1918. The constituency comprised the burghs of Stirling in Stirlingshire, Dunfermline, and Inverkeithing in Fife, Queensferry, in Linlithgowshire , and Culross, which...

 and held the seat until July 1852. He was then elected MP for Stockport

Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)

Stockport is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

 and held the seat until 1874.

Smith lived at King's Ride, Ascot, Berkshire where he died aged 85.

In 1841 Smith married Jemina Durning, eldest daughter of William Durning, from a wealthy well-established Liverpool family. Before her marriage, she had lived with her sister Emma and her husband George Holt, parents of the merchant of that name. The Smiths had two daughters, Jemina and Edith Jane

Their daughter Edith Jane Smith married a lawyer named Edwin Lawrence, the Baconian

Baconian theory

The Baconian theory of Shakespearean authorship holds that Sir Francis Bacon, lawyer, philosopher, essayist and scientist, wrote the plays conventionally attributed to William Shakespeare, and that the historical Shakespeare was merely a front to shield the identity of Bacon, who could not take...

 enthusiast, two of whose elder brothers, William

William Lawrence (London MP)

Sir William Lawrence was an English builder and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1865 and 1885....

 and James

Sir James Lawrence, 1st Baronet

Sir James Clarke Lawrence, 1st Baronet was Lord Mayor of London and a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1885....

, both served as Liberal MPs and Lord Mayor of London

Lord Mayor of London

The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...

. Edwin changed his name to Edwin Durning-Lawrence

Edwin Durning-Lawrence

Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence, 1st Baronet was a British lawyer and Member of Parliament.He is best known for his advocacy of the Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship, which asserts that Francis Bacon was the author of Shakespeare's plays. He published a number of books on the subject and...

 before receiving his baronethood. The Lawrence family was closely connected to Unitarianism

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

, for example purchasing land for the move of the Essex Street Chapel

Essex Street Chapel

Essex Street Chapel, also known as Essex Church, is a Unitarian place of worship in London. It was the first church in England set up with this doctrine, and was established at a time when Dissenters still faced legal threat...

.

Jemina Durning Smith (the daughter, not the mother) founded the local library, known as the Ascot Durning Library, and still supported with funds from the Durning Trust. She also co-founded the Durning Library in Lambeth

Lambeth

Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...

, south London, with her brother-in-law Edwin as one of the commissioners and another brother-in-law, James, to open it A plaque to her hangs on the wall of the "Arts & Crafts

Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...

 masterpiece" that opened in Kennington

Kennington

Kennington is a district of South London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, although part of the area is within the London Borough of Southwark....

 in 1889.

Publications

• A reply to the letter of Samuel Jones Lloyd, Esq., on the effect of the administration of the Bank of England 1840
• How to obtain increased supplies of Cotton 1855
• An Inquiry into the causes of Panics and of the frequent Fluctuations in the rate of Discount 1866

External links