Henry Walton Smith
Henry Walton Smith (1738 – 23 August 1792) was the founder of W. H. Smith, one of the United Kingdom's largest bookselling and newspaper vending businesses.
Career[edit]
Brought up in Wrington in Somerset, Henry Walton Smith moved to London and became a personal assistant to Charles Rogers, an English customs official and art collector.[1]
In 1792, together with his wife Anna, he founded his news vending business in London.[2]
He died only a few months later on 23 August 1792.[2]
Family[edit]
In 1784 he married Anna Eastaugh, a servant girl (1756-c. 1816), leading to the loss of his inheritance.[3] They went on to have two sons, Henry Edward Smith and William Henry Smith, and one daughter, Mary Anne Smith.[4][5]
References[edit]
- ^ Henry Walton Smith 1738 - 1792, genealogy.links.org. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ a b "History of WHSmith". WHSmith plc.
- ^ "Secrets of our favorite brands revealed". AZ Vision. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ Reade, Compton (1904). "The Smith family, being a popular account of most branches of the name--however spelt--from the fourteenth century downwards, with numerous pedigrees now published for the first time". Elliot Stock.
- ^ Anna Eastaugh (Easter) 1756 - c. 1816, genealogy.links.org. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
Further reading[edit]
- Wilson, Charles. First With the News: The History of W. H. Smith 1792-1972 (London: Jonathan Cape, 1985) ISBN 978-0-22402-156-2
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