William Henry Smith
(1825-1891), Newsagent and politician, First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of CommonsEarly Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 27 portraits
At the age of twenty-one he became a partner in his father's newsagent business. Although his father wished to confine the business to an agency selling newspapers, Smith rented a bookstall at Euston Station in 1848. He developed a network of railway bookstalls widely, and by 1862 had secured exclusive bookstall rights on all the important English railway systems. Though he had entered the business reluctantly, he became one of the best-known Victorian capitalists, whose name in the mid-nineteenth century was a byword for mass distribution. In 1868, he was elected as a Conservative MP and was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury six years later. In 1877, he became First Lord of the Admiralty.
William Henry Smith; John Bright
by Sydney Prior Hall
pencil, 1887
NPG 2322
by Frederick Winter
plaster cast of bust, 1891
NPG 1742
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, before 1892
NPG 3607
by Lombardi & Co
albumen carte-de-visite, 1870s
NPG Ax8600
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, circa 1873
NPG Ax18363
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, circa 1873
NPG Ax28464
by Elliott & Fry
albumen carte-de-visite, 1877-1880
NPG x197163
by Lock & Whitfield, published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington
woodburytype, published 1881
NPG Ax17651
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
woodburytype, published 1881
NPG Ax27783
possibly by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
woodburytype, 1881?
NPG x22645
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, 1881?
NPG x197164
by Fradelle & Young
albumen cabinet card, late 1880s-early 1890s
NPG x47323
by Herbert Rose Barraud, published by Eglington & Co
carbon print, published 1889
NPG Ax5439
by Herbert Rose Barraud, published by Eglington & Co
carbon print, published 1889
NPG x22644
by York & Son, after Unknown photographer
glass lantern slide, 1890s
NPG x3664
Various politicians and others
by and after Elliott & Fry
bromide print, 1890s
NPG Ax139904
by John Proctor
wood engraving, published in Judy or The London Serio-Comic Journal 25 November 1868
NPG D22624
William Henry Smith ('The Head of the Race of Smith')
published by Frederick Arnold, after Unknown artist
lithograph, published in the Hornet 5 July 1871
NPG D48243
William Henry Smith ('Statesmen, No. 107. "Newspapers."')
by Adriano Cecioni
chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 9 March 1872
NPG D43526
by Charles Holl, printed by McQueen (Macqueen), after George Richmond
stipple engraving, (1877)
NPG D20708
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