Guy Smith (bishop)

Guy Vernon Smith MC[1] (15 October 1880 – 11 June 1957) was an Anglican bishop in the mid-20th century.

Smith was educated at Winchester[2] and New College, Oxford. Following in the footsteps of his father, a King's Counsel, Smith was called to the Bar in 1905 but then decided on a career move from Law to the Church of England[2] He was ordained in 1907, was a curate in Romford and, from 1909 to 1911, was Chaplain of Oxford House, Bethnal Green. This was 'like a Christian Welfare Society' with 1500 men and 500 boys in clubs, open every night.[3] So began his long association with Arthur Winnington-Ingram, the dynamic Bishop of London. He became Resident Chaplain to the Bishop, and supported the Bishop noted for his jingoistic promotion of British commitment to the Great War.[4] Winnington-Ingram was a renowned preacher who attracted massive publicity, and he toured the Western Front in 1914 with Smith who wrote a book about the visit.[5] Smith himself then served on the Western Front with the Post Office Rifles, distinguishing himself at Bullecourt in June, 1917, winning a Military Cross.[6]

'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in accompanying a party of volunteers to get in some wounded men that had been lying out some days. He attached himself to the party that had the most dangerous task and greatly encouraged them by his personal example and fearlessness under heavy fire. He was the first to go out and the last to return, setting a splendid example of devotion to duty'[7]

Unfortunately, Smith caught trench nephritis and spent six months in hospital in England. He was, however, fit enough to accompany Winnington-Ingram on a tour of Greece, Salonica, Malta and Rome.[3] He ended the War as a chaplain at Aldershot and then took up an appointment as Rector of Hackney. From 1925 to 1929 he was Archdeacon of Colombo but returned to London at the behest of Winnington-Ingram to be Suffragan Bishop of Willesden. He was consecrated a bishop on the Feast of St James 1929 (25 July), at St Paul's Cathedral by Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury.[8] Once again, Smith provided admirable support for Winnington-Ingram whose powers were waning and who did not resign until 1939 when he was in his eighties. The new Bishop of London was Geoffrey Fisher who proposed Smith for the vacant see at Leicester. Although Lang regarded Smith as 'old maidish', he supported Smith's candidature, and Smith was appointed to Leicester in 1940.[9] Smith enjoyed a reputation in Leicester as a 'saintly man',[10] 'with a patient pastoral care and administrative wisdom'.[11] He retired in 1953. He has a commemorative plaque in Leicester Cathedral.[12]

References

1. NPG details
2. Who was Who 1897–1990 London, A & C Black, 1991 ISBN 0-7136-3457-X
3. Unpublished autobiography of Vernon Smith held at Museum of Army Chaplaincy
4. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, OUP 2004, article by Jeremy Morris
5. 'Bishop of London's Visit to the Front' by G.V. Smith, Longman's 1915
6. 'What did you do in the Great War, Bishop?' by Tom Scherb, Stand To!, number 95, Western Front Association
7. London Gazette, 25 August 1917
8. "New Bishop of Willesden". Church Times (#3470). 26 July 1929. p. 108. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via UK Press Online archives.
9. TNA PREM5/289
10. Lambeth Palace Library, Fisher Papers, 1946
11. Leicester Diocesan Chronicle, October 1956
12. "Plaque details". Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2008.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)