Montague Smith, MP
(1806-1891)
18 May 1861

Volume 3, page 258, sitting number 3715.

Sir Montague Edward Smith was the Member of Parliament for Truro from 29 April 1859 to February 1865. 

The eldest son of Thomas Smith, solicitor and town clerk of Bideford in Devon, Montague Smith was born in Bideford on 25 December 1806. He became a barrister at Gray's Inn in 1835 and at Middle Temple in 1839. He unsuccessfully contested Truro in 1847 and again in 1852, before finally becoming the town's MP in 1859. He was knighted at Windsor Castle on 18 May 1865.

Sir Montague Edward Smith died at 32 Park Lane, London, on 3 May 1891. He left an estate valued at £238,876.

A short obituary appeared in the Morning Post (6 May 1891). 'We have to announce the death of the Right Hon. Sir Montague Edward Smith, which took place at his residence, Park-lane, on Sunday, in his 84th year. He was the eldest son of Mr Thomas Smith, of Bideford, Devon, and was born in 1807 [sic]. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1835, but joined the Middle Temple in 1839, of which inn he eventually became a bencher and treasurer. He joined the Western Circuit, and was created a Queen's Counsel in 1852. Sir Montague was appointed a Judge of the Common Pleas in 1865, but in November, 1871, he became a paid member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, from which position he retired in 1881. He represented Truro in 1859 until his elevation to the bench, having previously on two occasions unsuccessfully contested the same place. The funeral will take place to-morrow, leaving 32, Park-lane, at eleven o'clock, and arriviing at Kensal-green Cemetery at twelve o'clock.' 

[According to the DNB, he was born on 25 December 1809. However, this cannot be correct, since he was baptised on 1 January 1807.]