Rupert Alec-Smith

Rupert Alexander Alec-Smith, TD (5 September 1913, Beverley, Yorkshire – 23 December 1983, Hull, Yorkshire) was an Englishman with an abiding interest in local history and founded the Georgian Society for East Yorkshire in 1937. In the Second World War, he served with the Green Howards in Cyprus.

In 1945 he stood for parliament at the General Election for the Conservative Party in Hull East. He came second in a three-way contest.

In 1946, he bought the Old Rectory at Winestead and employed Francis Johnson to restore it. He filled the Rectory with fittings from demolished Georgian buildings and began collecting memorabilia of the Maister family. He was Lord Mayor of Hull in 1970–71 and made Lord Lieutenant of Humberside in 1980.

His papers at Hull University include circa 3000 items from the fourteenth century onward, including title deeds, settlements, rentals, enclosure acts, maps and plans and house sale catalogues for East Yorkshire including manorial records 1647–1927 for Elstronwick.

Personal papers include over 500 letters of his parents, Alexander Alec-Smith and Adelaide Alec-Smith (née Horsley), largely sent during the First World War, and about 300 letters Rupert Alec-Smith sent during the Second World War. His journals and diaries survive for 1937-1970 as does his correspondence with good friend John Betjeman from 1954 to 1973.

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