Mr Smith
Psmith's father is an eccentric old chap who takes up hobbies. Each hobby is an obsession, until the next comes along and replaces the old completely. At the start of Psmith in the City, where we first meet him, his hobby is cricket, and he has just moved away from Shropshire to Ilsworth Hall in a neighbouring county, in search of better sport. He went to school with John Bickersdyke, whose example he hopes his son will follow, until persuaded otherwise.
While in appearance he resembles an aged version of Psmith, in manner he is quite the opposite of his languorous son, a constantly active man full of nervous energy. He takes on Mike to manage his estates, paying for him to study at Cambridge, but later dies leaving nothing but debts, putting Mike's career in trouble and leaving his son penniless.
Read more about this topic: P. G. Wodehouse Minor Characters
Famous quotes containing the word smith:
“To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation that is governed by shopkeepers.”
—Adam Smith (1723–1790)
“Heat, ma’am! It was so dreadful here that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones.”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)