Leicester Smyth

Lieutenant General Hon. Sir Leicester Smyth KCB KCMG (born Curzon-Howe; 25 October 1829 – 27 January 1891) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Gibraltar.

The Honourable Sir Leicester Smyth
Birth name	Hon. Leicester Curzon-Howe
Born	25 October 1829 Norton Juxta Twycross, Leicester, England
Died	27 January 1891 (aged 61) London, United Kingdom
Buried	Gopsall, Leicestershire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Commands held	Western District Cape Colony Southern District
Battles/wars	Crimean War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George

Early life and education

Smyth was the seventh son of Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe and Lady Harriet Georgiana Brudenell, daughter of Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan. He was educated at Eton College.[1]

Military career

Smyth was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade in 1845. He served in the Basuto War in 1852.[1]

In 1854 he was appointed aide-de-camp to Lord Raglan and was present at the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Inkerman and the Siege of Sevastopol.[1] He subsequently served as ADC to General Codington.[1]

He was made Assistant Military Secretary in the Ionian Islands in 1856, Military Secretary in Ireland in 1865 and Deputy Quartermaster in Ireland in 1872.[1]

In 1877 he became General Officer Commanding Western District and in 1880 GOC Cape Colony.[1] He was acting High Commissioner for Southern Africa from 1882 to 1883, GOC Southern District from 1889 to 1890 (in which capacity he hosted a visit by the Shah of Persia[2]) and Governor of Gibraltar from 1890 until his death in 1891, aged 61.[1]

Family

On 12 February 1866 in Dublin, he married Alicia Maria Eliza Smyth, daughter and heiress of Robert Smyth of Drumcree, County Westmeath. In November that year, he adopted his wife's maiden name in lieu of his own, and quartered the Smyth arms with the arms of Curzon-Howe.[3] They had no children.[1][4]

References

1. "Leicester Smyth". www.oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
2. Rambling Recollections By Henry Drummond Wolff Page 364 BiblioBazaar, 2009, ISBN 978-1-117-69655-3
3. Walford, Edward (1893). The County Families of the United Kingdom Or Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain and Ireland. p. 937. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
4. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1895). Armorial Families: A Complete Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, and a Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour, and Being the First Attempt to Show which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority. Jack. p. 911. Retrieved 25 May 2019.

Military offices
Preceded by Henry Smyth	GOC Western District 1877–1880	Succeeded by Thomas Pakenham
Preceded by Sir George Willis	GOC Southern District 1889–1890	Succeeded by The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Government offices
Preceded by Sir Arthur Hardinge	Governor of Gibraltar 1890–1891	Succeeded by Sir Lothian Nicholson