Frederick Smith, 2nd Viscount Hambleden

[2] In 1891, he also succeeded his father William Henry Smith as Member of Parliament for the Strand constituency,[1] holding the seat until January 1910.His rapid succession to the seat his father held in Parliament may have played a role in his being targeted for blackmail by the notorious poisoner Dr. Thomas Neill Cream, who (writing under an assumed name) claimed to have proof that Smith had poisoned a prostitute.This was one of three known attempts at blackmail that may have been the real motive for Cream's string of poisonings in the Stepney and Lambeth areas of London from October 1891 to April 1892.They played a small role in the final arrest, prosecution and conviction of Cream at the Old Bailey in October 1892, and his execution the following month.[3] Smith was commissioned Lieutenant in the 2nd Buckinghamshire Rifle Volunteers (Eton College) in 1885, but resigned in 1887.
"head of the greatest publishing house in Christendom"
Smith as caricatured by Spy ( Leslie Ward ) in Vanity Fair , December 1904
Monument to Smith in the gardens of Lincoln's Inn Fields , London
Frederick SmithColonelMember of ParliamentStrandWilliam Henry SmithWalter LongConservativeEmily SmithDavid John SmithArthur Gore, 5th Earl of ArranEton CollegeAlma materNew College, OxfordUnited KingdomBritish Army2nd Buckinghamshire Rifle Volunteers (Eton College)Royal 1st Devon YeomanryImperial YeomanryRoyal Devon YeomanryBoer WarWorld War ILeslie WardVanity FairLincoln's Inn FieldsW H SmithStrand constituencyblackmailThomas Neill CreamprostituteStepneyLambethOld BaileyexecutionLieutenantSecond LieutenantCaptainLieutenant-ColonelArtilleryViscount HambledenDavid JohnVictoria County Historyhonorary freedomHenley-on-ThamesThe London GazetteFleet streetLondonDean & SonHansardParliament of the United KingdomPeerage of the United KingdomWilliam SmithDicksonLevy-LawsonGordon-LennoxHarrisonCavendishCurranMiltonTurnourWodehouseWolmerSassoonEsmondeWhittyStanleySweeneyHarmsworthLucas-ToothRobinsonWilloughby de EresbyC. TaylorMacmillanProfumoMillingtonCarsonJenkinsTeevanWoollamClarkeKimballFerrantiWolrige-GordonChannonE. TaylorHuckfieldDevlinThomasHaymanMacKayDorrellCarronKennedyM. TaylorLeslieTeatherSwinsonC. SmithWhittomeMatherCarling