Randal Smith, 2nd Baron Bicester explained

Randal Smith, 2nd Baron Bicester
Birth Name:Randal Hugh Vivian Smith
Birth Date:9 January 1898
Birth Place:London
Education:Eton
Alma Mater:Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Occupation:Businessman
Public official
Spouse:Dorothea Gwenllian James (1897–1974)
Father:Vivian Smith, 1st Baron Bicester
Relatives:Walter James, 3rd Baron Northbourne (father-in-law)

Randal Hugh Vivian Smith, 2nd Baron Bicester (9 January 1898 – 15 January 1968), was an English hereditary peer and merchant banker in the City of London.

Biography

Early life

Smith was born on 9 January 1898 in London. He was the eldest son of the banker Vivian Smith (later created first Baron Bicester) and his wife Lady Sybil Mary McDonnell, a daughter of William McDonnell, 6th Earl of Antrim, and a nephew of Admiral Sir Aubrey Smith. He was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[1]

Career

He served with the 17th Lancers, rising to the rank of lieutenant.

During his business years, he served as a director of Morgan, Grenfell & Co., Shell Transport and Trading, Vickers and the Bank of England. He was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1945 and succeeded to his father's title of Baron Bicester in 1956.

Personal life and death

On 29 November 1922, he married Dorothea Gwenllian James, a daughter of Walter James, 3rd Baron Northbourne. They had two daughters.

He was killed in 1968, aged 70, in a motor accident. Without male issue, his title passed to his nephew, Angus Smith.

Notes and References

  1. News: 17 January 1968. Obituary: Lord Bicester. 12. The Times. 57151. London.