Robert Smith-Dorrien Explained

Honorific Prefix:Lt. Col.
Robert Smith-Dorrien
Honorific Suffix:JP
Birth Name:Robert Algernon Smith
Birth Date:2 October 1814
Death Date:8 October 1879 (aged 65)
Spouse:Mary Anne Drever (married 1845)
Children:15 (including Thomas Smith-Dorrien and Horace Smith-Dorrien)
Parents:
  • James Smith (father)
  • Mary Isabella Pechell (mother)
Relatives:Augustus Smith (brother)

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Algernon Smith-Dorrien (; 2 October 1814 – 8 October 1879)[1] was a British churchwarden and soldier.[2]

Biography

Robert Smith was born on 2 October 1814 to James Smith and Mary Isabella Pechell. He married Mary Anne Drever, a member of the Dorrien family, in 1845. He adopted his wife's maiden name and changed his surname by Royal Licence to Smith-Dorrien. Together they had 15 children, including Thomas Smith-Dorrien and Horace Smith-Dorrien.

He served as a Justice of the Peace. He was a lieutenant colonel, serving in the Hertfordshire Militia and also a captain in both the 3rd Light Dragoons and the 16th Lancers.

Smith-Dorrien was heavily involved in the restoration of the now Grade II* listed St Peter's Church in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, serving as the Churchwarden from 1868 until his death on 8 October 1879. Due to his work for the church building, a stained glass window by Charles Eamer Kempe was installed and dedicated in his honour, along with a plaque.

Family

Smith-Dorrien's elder brother was Augustus Smith, Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly from 1834 to 1872. Augustus Smith was succeeded as Lord Proprietor by Robert Smith-Dorrien's eldest son, Thomas Algernon Smith-Dorrien.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Barber, Richard . Tresco Times: the last piece of England . Halsgrove . 2002 . 1-84114-163-1 . 1st . 35 . en . 862619901.
  2. Web site: Robert Algernon Smith-Dorrien . Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted . 30 September 2022.