Henry Smith (police officer)

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Smith KCB (15 December 1835 – 2 March 1921) was a Scottish police officer who was Commissioner of the City of London Police.[1]

Smith was born in Penpont, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, the son of Rev. George Smith of the Church of Scotland and Jane Hogarth.[2] He was educated at Edinburgh Academy. After serving as a constable in a Scottish county force, he went to London in 1879.[3] He was unanimously elected to the post on 28 July 1890, the first to hold the post after joining the same force as a Constable.[4] He had also been Acting Commissioner since the resignation of James Fraser.

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1896 and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1897.[2] He tendered his resignation as Commissioner early in December 1902 due to friction with the Police Committee over the administration of the force[5] and left office late that month.[6]

He died in Edinburgh in 1921.[7]

References

1. 'The London City Police, Belfast News-Letter, 29 July 1890, page 5.
2. Burke, Sir Bernard, ed. (1914). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (76th ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2531.
3. "Lieut.-Col. Sir Henry Smith, K.C.B." Yorkshire Post. 5 March 1921. p. 14. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
4. 'Pithy Paragraphs of the Week', Larne Times, 21 January 1911, page 11
5. 'Condensed Intelligence', Reading Mercury, 7 December 1901, page 10
6. 'Jottings by Wire', Portsmouth Evening News, 2 December 1901, page 6.
7. Coventry Evening Telegraph, 4 March 1921, page 3.

Police appointments
Preceded by James Fraser	Commissioner of the City of London Police 1890–1902	Succeeded by William Nott-Bower