John Benjamin Smith

Who was John Benjamin Smith?

John Benjamin Smith was an English Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1847 to 1874.

Smith was the son of Benjamin Smith, a merchant of Manchester. He was himself a merchant and was president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce from 1839 to 1841. He was the first chairman of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire and author of several economics works.

Smith stood unsuccessfully for parliament at Blackburn in 1837, and at Walsall and Dundee in 1841. In 1847 he was elected Member of Parliament for Stirling Burghs and held the seat until July 1852. He was then elected MP for Stockport and held the seat until 1874.

Smith lived at King's Ride, Ascot, Berkshire where he died aged 85.

In 1841 Smith married Jemina Durning, eldest daughter of William Durning, from a wealthy well-established Liverpool family. Before her marriage, she had lived with her sister Emma and her husband George Holt, parents of the merchant of that name. The Smiths had two daughters, Jemina and Edith Jane