Richard Abel Smith

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Colonel
Richard Abel Smith
Portrait by Hay Wrightson Ltd, 1956
Born
Richard Francis Abel Smith

(1933-10-11)11 October 1933
Kensington Palace, London, England
Died23 December 2004(2004-12-23) (aged 71)
Blidworth Dale, Nottinghamshire, England
EducationEton College
Alma materRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Agricultural College
OccupationBritish Army officer
Spouse
Marcia Kendrew
​
(m. 1960)​
ChildrenKatherine Emma Abel Smith
Parent(s)Sir Henry Abel Smith
Lady May Cambridge

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

Early life[edit]

He was the son of Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith (1900–1993) and his wife Lady May Cambridge (1906-1994), née Princess May of Teck, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a niece of Queen Mary. He was born at Kensington Palace in London, England. Richard was the second of three children and the only boy. He was a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria.

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.[1]

Career[edit]

He was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues).[2] 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, which he held until 1989.[3][4] He held the office of Vice Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire between 1991 and 1999.[2][5]

Personal life[edit]

On 28 April 1960, Smith married Marcia Kendrew (b. 1940), a daughter of Sir Douglas Kendrew, a future Governor of Western Australia, in St. Mary Abbott's Church, Kensington, London, England. Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester and The Princess Anne all attended the wedding.[6] Consent for the marriage was required under the Royal Marriages Act 1772.[7][8] They had a daughter, Katherine Emma Abel Smith (born 11 March 1961), who married Hon. Hubert Wentworth Beaumont, son of the life peer and Green Party activist Timothy Wentworth Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley, a descendant of Wentworth Canning Beaumont, 1st Viscount Allendale.[9] He died of a stroke at home in Blidworth Dale, Nottinghamshire, England on 23 December 2004.[2] He was buried on 18 January 2005 in St James, Papplewick, Nottinghamshire, England.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Abel Smith, Col Richard Francis, (11 Oct. 1933–23 Dec. 2004), Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, 1991–99". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u4910. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Lives in Brief: Richard Abel Smith". The Times. No. 68281. 11 January 2005.
  3. ^ "No. 48031". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 December 1979. p. 15937.
  4. ^ "No. 51890". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 October 1989. p. 11316.
  5. ^ "No. 52730". The London Gazette. 29 November 1991. p. 18350.
  6. ^ "Court Circular". The Montreal Star. 29 April 1960. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  7. ^ "No. 41816". The London Gazette. 15 September 1959. p. 5797.
  8. ^ "Queen consents to cousin's marriage". The Guardian Journal. 16 September 1959. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  9. ^ Kidd, Charles, Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage 2015 Edition, London, 2015, p.26, Viscount Allendale, collaterals.
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