Richard Abel Smith

Colonel Richard Francis Abel Smith (11 October 1933^[1] – 23 December 2004) was a British Army officer.

He was the son of Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith (1900–1993) and Lady May Abel Smith (1906–1994). He was born at Kensington Palace in London, England. Richard was the second of three children and the only boy. He was 312th in the line of succession to the British Throne as a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria.

Education

Abel Smith was educated at Eton College, Eton, Berkshire, England; the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Berkshire, England; and the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England.

Military career

He was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues). He was Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Cyprus between 1957 and 1960. He was a military instructor between 1960 and 1963 at Sandhurst. He commanded the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry squadron of the Royal Yeomanry between 1967 and 1969. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Nottinghamshire between 1970 and 1991 and High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1978. He gained the rank of Honorary Colonel in 1979 in the service of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry Regiment. He held the office of Vice Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire between 1991 and 1999.

Marriage and children

He married Marcia Kendrew (born 27 March 1940; daughter of Sir Douglas Kendrew, a future Governor of Western Australia) on 28 April 1960 in St. Mary Abbott's Church, Kensington, London, England. They had one daughter;

• Katherine Emma Abel Smith (born 11 March 1961); married on 16 October 1980 to The Hon. Hubert Wentworth Beaumont (born 13 April 1956), eldest son of the Rev. and Rt Hon. Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley. They had four children.
  • Amelia May Beaumont (12 November 1983) married Simon Murray on 4 October 2007. They have twins:
    • Matilda Alice Murray (11 April 2012)
    • Archibald Peregrine Murray (11 April 2012)
  • George Wentworth Beaumont (24 August 1985)
  • Richard Christian Beaumont (27 May 1989)
  • Michael Patrick Beaumont (23 April 1991)

Later life

He died of a stroke at home in Blidworth Dale, Nottinghamshire, England on 23 December 2004. He was buried on 18 January 2005 in St James, Papplewick, Nottinghamshire, England.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Richard Abel Smith

16. Henry Smith               8. Henry Abel Smith                       17. Lucy Leslie-Melville               4. Francis Abel Smith                             18. Francis Pym               9. Elizabeth Mary Pym                       19. Jane Elizabeth Leslie-Melville               2. Henry Abel Smith                                   20. Henry John Hyde Seymour               10. Henry Seymour                       21. Charlotte Whitcombe               5. Madeline St. Maur Seymour                             22. Robert Tritton               11. Susannah Biscoe Tritton                       1. Richard Abel Smith                                         24. Duke Alexander of Württemberg               12. Francis, Duke of Teck                       25. Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde               6. Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone                             26. Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge               13. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge                       27. Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel               3. Lady May Cambridge                                   28. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha               14. Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany                       29. Victoria of the United Kingdom               7. Princess Alice of Albany                             30. George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont               15. Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont                       31. Princess Helena of Nassau

References

1. "Abel Smith, Col Richard Francis". Who's who 1998 : an annual biographical dictionary. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1998. p. 2. ISBN 0312175914.