Michael Babington Smith

Brigadier Michael James Babington Smith CBE TD (20 March 1901 – 26 October 1984), known in London as MJBS, was a British banker, sportsman and soldier from the Babington family. During the Second World War, he served under General Dwight D. Eisenhower as Director of Finance at SHAEF from 1943 to 1945. Following the war, he was a director of the Bank of England for two decades. He served as treasurer of the National Art Collections Fund and was twice High Sheriff of the County of London.[1]

Michael Babington Smith CBE TD
Babington Smith in 1949
Born	Michael James Babington Smith (1901-03-20)20 March 1901 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died	26 October 1984(1984-10-26) (aged 83) Kensington and Chelsea, London
Nationality	British
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Occupation	Banker
Spouse(s)	Lady Jean Babington Smith
Children	3
Parents	Hon. Sir Henry Babington Smith (father) Lady Elisabeth Bruce (mother)
Relatives	Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin (grandfather) Constance Babington Smith (sister)
Family	Babington family
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1925–45
Rank	Brigadier
Unit	Leicestershire Yeomanry, Home Guard
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	CBE Legion of Honour Croix de Guerre

Early life and education

Babington Smith was born in Constantinople in 1901, the son of Sir Henry Babington Smith, a British civil servant who was serving on the council of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration, and later became a director of the Bank of England. His paternal grandfather was lawyer and mathematician Archibald Smith and his brothers were MP James Parker Smith and curator Arthur Hamilton Smith, Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum His mother was Lady Elisabeth Bruce, daughter of the 9th Earl of Elgin, who was Viceroy of India from 1894 to 1899.[2] Michael was the eldest of 10 children; one of his younger sisters was journalist Constance Babington Smith MBE (1911–2000).[1] Another sister, Lucy, married Henry Sinclair, 2nd Baron Pentland. His brother Bernard Babington Smith OBE (1905–1993) was an author and wartime photographer.

Michael attended Eton College, where he had a successful cricket career, followed by Trinity College, Cambridge. He was active in various other sports throughout his life, including shooting, stalking and fencing. He was a five-time finalist in the British foil championships and was captain of the England fencing team in 1931.[1]

Career

Banking career

In 1923, Babington Smith joined Glyn, Mills & Co. He spent 50 years at the bank, becoming a partner in 1932, the managing director in 1938, and deputy chairman in 1946.[1] In 1946, he was appointed to the Court of Directors of the Bank of England.[3] He was appointed a director of the Bank of England in 1949, a first for a director of a clearing bank, a position he held for 20 years.[1][4]

Babington Smith spent his entire career with Glyn's, but also served as a director for numerous other institutions, including the Bank for International Settlements (1965–74), the London Committee for the Ottoman Bank (from 1947; serving as chairman, 1975–82), the Royal Bank of Scotland (1938–63), Banque de Suez (1957–74), and the holding company AEI (1949–68).[1][4]

Military service

Babington Smith was part of the Officer Training Corps at Cambridge and was commissioned into the Territorial Army as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Leicestershire Yeomanry, in 1925.[5] When the Second World War began in 1939, he was called up with the Yeomanry and spent the first two years of the war with the Home Guard.[1]

From 1941 to 1943, Babington Smith served in Africa as financial controller of the newly liberated Italian colonies in East Africa. In 1943, he was recalled to England to serve as an assistant to US Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). Promoted to Brigadier, Babington Smith was Director of Finance at SHAEF until 1945, tasked with planning the financial aspects of the Allied invasion and subsequent administration of Western Europe.[1][4]

Honours

In April 1945, Babington Smith was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, military division, for his service during the Second World War.[6]

He was also decorated as a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honeur avec Palme and the Croix de Guerre.[1]

Personal life

In 1943, Babington Smith married Jean Mary, daughter of Admiral Hon. Sir Herbert Meade-Fetherstonhaugh and granddaughter of Admiral of the Fleet Richard Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam. They had one son, Alan (born 1946); and two daughters, Louisa (born 1944), wife of James Richard Macfarlane, Coldstream Guards; and Susan (born 1950), wife of John Henry Hemming.[7]

Babington Smith never officially retired, but in later years he suffered from crippling arthritis and was further disabled by a car accident. He died in London in 1984, aged 83.[1]

In 1990, his widow was raised to the rank of an earl's daughter by royal warrant, entitled to be styled as Lady Jean Babington Smith.[8] She died 22 November 2001.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Michael Babington Smith

16. Archibald Smith of Jordanhill 8. James Smith of Jordanhill 17. Isobel Euing 4. Archibald Smith 18. Alexander Wilson 9. Mary Wilson 19. 2. Sir Henry Babington Smith 20. Charles Stuart Parker 10. Sir James Parker 21. Mary Rainey 5. Susan Emma Parker 22. Thomas Babington of Rothley Temple 11. Mary Babington 23. Jean Macaulay 1. Michael Babington Smith 24. Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin 12. James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin 25. Mary Nisbet 6. Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin 26. John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham 13. Lady Mary Louisa Lambton 27. Lady Louisa Grey 3. Lady Elisabeth Mary Bruce 28. Sir James Carnegie, 5th Baronet 14. James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk 29. Charlotte Lysons 7. Lady Constance Mary Carnegie 30. Charles Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough 15. Lady Catherine Hamilton Noel 31. Arabella Hamlyn-Williams

References

1. "Obituary: M. Babington Smith – Eminent Banker". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 2 November 1984. p. 14.
2. Lubenow, William C. "Smith, Sir Henry Babington (1863–1923)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
3. "No. 1203". The London Gazette. 8 March 1949. p. 38556.
4. Fforde, John (1992). The Bank of England and Public Policy, 1941–1958. Cambridge University Press. p. 552. ISBN 9780521391399. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
5. "No. 33035". The London Gazette. 3 April 1925. p. 2291.
6. "No. 37040". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 April 1945. p. 2077.
7. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 798. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
8. "No. 52271". The London Gazette. 13 September 1990. p. 14601.

External links

• Michael Babington Smith at CricketArchive

Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir George Bolton	High Sheriff of the County of London 1953–1954	Succeeded by Geoffrey Eley
Preceded by Sir George Bolton	High Sheriff of the County of London 1962–1963	Succeeded by Sir Cyril Hawker