Early Life
William Smith was born on 22 September 1756 at Clapham (then a village to the south of London), the son of Samuel Smith. Brought up by parents who worshipped at an Independent chapel, he was educated at the dissenting academy at Daventry until 1772, where he began to come under the influence of Unitarians. He went into the family grocery business and by 1777 had become a partner. Smith had a long career as a social and political reformer, joining the Society for Constitutional Information in 1782.
On 12 September 1781 he married Frances Coape (1758 – 1840), daughter of John and Hannah Coape, both Dissenters. Their daughter, Frances Smith, married William Nightingale and was the mother of Florence Nightingale. According to Cambridge University Library records, William and Frances had four other daughters: Joanna Maria (1791–1884), Julia, Anne and Patty. According to the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, they also had five sons. One of them was Benjamin Smith, the Whig politician who fathered Barbara Bodichon, founder of Girton College, and the explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith.
The Smiths continued to live near the family business, and moved into Eagle House on Clapham Common.
Read more about this topic: William Smith (abolitionist)
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