The Arms of Sir Thomas Smith, Bt
Noel Cox
first published (Winter 2002) 83 New Zealand Armorist 14-15
Sir Thomas Gilbert Smith is the fourth baronet Smith, of Stratford Place, St Marylebone, in the county of London. He was born in 1937, and succeeded his father, Sir Thomas Turner Smith, Bt, in 1961. His address is 50 Titoki Street, P.O. Box 654, Masterton.
Sir Thomas was educated at Huntley School, and Nelson College. He is an engineer.
The family are noted for being members of the medical profession.
The first baronet was the sixth son of the eldest son of Benjamin Smith, of Edgbaston, county of Warwick, and of Camberwell, Surrey.
Sir Thomas Smith, Bt KCVO FRCS, was Surgeon-Extraordinary to Her Majesty Queen Victoria and honorary Serjeant Surgeon to His Majesty King Edward VII. He was Consulting Surgeon to St Batholomew's Hospital and to King Edward VII's Hospital for Officers.
Sir Thomas, who was Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons, was created a baronet in the baronetage of the United Kingdom in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee honours in 1897.
The first Sir Thomas's eldest son, Sir Rudolph, CBE FRCS LRCP MA MB was also a surgeon. He died without issue in 1958 and was succeeded by his nephew, who had settled in New Zealand. Although not himself a medical man, the third baronet's father had been.
The armorial bearings of the baronet are quarterly, Or and Gules a fret between three fleurs-de-lis counterchanged. They are dominated by two images, the fret, and the fleur-de-lis. These are also found in the crest, which is a fret Gules issuant therefrom a fleur-de-lis Or.
The fleur-de-lis is of great antiquity, but it is principally through France, and the arms of the Kings of France, that we use this charge. It is now recognisably a royal emblem in English heraldry, since King Edward III claimed the French crown in 1328. Its presence here undoubtedly refers to the positions held by the first Sir Thomas Smith, Bt in the Royal Household.
The motto is Dabit qui dedit. There are no supporters.
Addendum:
Since this article was published Sir Thomas Smith, Bt, has died. Sir Andrew (Thomas) Smith, Bt, an advertising sales executive with The Dominion Post Ltd, Wellington, the eldest son (born 1965) of Sir Thomas, succeeded his father in 2003 and is the 5th baronet. The heir is Sir Andrew's brother, Alistair Blair Smith, born 1969.