Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Reverend |
Linton Smith | |
Bishop of Rochester | |
Church: | Church of England |
Diocese: | Diocese of Rochester |
Elected: | 1930 |
Ended: | 1940 |
Predecessor: | John Harmer |
Successor: | Christopher Chavasse |
Other Post: | Bishop of Hereford 1920–1930 Bishop of Warrington 1918–1920 |
Ordination: | 1894 |
Consecration: | c. 1918 |
Birth Date: | 4 July 1869 |
Religion: | Anglican |
Parents: | James Allan Smith |
Spouse: | Kathleen Dewe |
Children: | some children |
Profession: | Soldier |
Alma Mater: | Hertford College, Oxford |
Martin Linton Smith, [1] (4 July 1869 – 7 October 1950) was an Anglican bishop who served in three dioceses during the first half of the twentieth century.
Smith was born into a clerical family – his father was the Very Revd James Allan Smith, Dean of St David's Cathedral from 1904 until his death in 1918[2] He died in post during November 1918.[3] – and educated at Repton and Hertford College, Oxford.[4] Ordained priest in 1894 he was a curate at four parishes before securing his own incumbency at Colchester in 1902.[5] By now married to Kathleen Dewe with a young family, he gained experience in Liverpool eventually becoming a Cathedral Canon. His finest hour, however, was the First World War where he gained the DSO for his sterling work at The Somme, Arras and Ypres. He had been appointed a Temporary Chaplain to the Forces in April, 1915, serving at first in Prescott before being posted abroad. [6] He was also Mentioned in Despatches. [7]
When peace came he was raised to the episcopate, firstly for two years as the suffragan Bishop of Warrington; then translated[8] to the more senior post of diocesan Bishop of Hereford in 1920, serving there for a decade; and, finally, a further nine years as Bishop of Rochester. Retiring to Cheltenham in 1940 he died after a long life "rich in service".