Author: Smith, Thomas Charlton
Biography:
SMITH, Thomas Charlton (1794-1883: ancestry.co.uk)
The son of Maria and Edward Smith, he was born in London on 9 Oct. 1794 and baptised at St. Mary’s, Marylebone, on 23 Nov. 1794. His father was an army surgeon and the family must have travelled with him; one of Smith’s sisters was born at Messina, Sicily. Charlton joined the 27th Inniskillings Regiment and fought in the Peninsular War (many of his poems are set in Spain) and at Waterloo where he was wounded. In 1841-42 he led the British troops against the Boers at Kongela; for his bravery he was presented with an ornamental sword (now in the Victoria and Albert museum) by Cape Colony merchants. He served for a time as the officer in charge of the garrison at Fort Natal. He moved steadily through the ranks and at the time of his death was a general. He never married and the 1851 Census records him living at 29 Cambridge St., Pimlico, London, with his mother and two sisters. He died at home and was buried in the Brompton cemetery on 14 Mar. 1883. An obituary in the Illustrated London News remarks on his “wide and curious knowledge of books” and his “Monody to Lord Byron,” printed in Bay Leaves. Both of his books are dedicated to his father. (ancestry.co.uk 18 Oct. 2021; Illustrated London News 24 Mar. 1883) SR
Other Names:
- T. C. Smith