{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2021}} thumb| '''Fergus Jago Smith''' (8 June 1843 – 25 January 1924) was an Australian politician and pastoralist.
==Early life== He was born at Gulgong to John Smith, a chemistry professor and later politician, and Mary {{nee}} Tom,<ref name=nsw/>{{efn| Different locations are given for his place of birth, with his parliamentary biography and Obituaries Australia entry listing it as Gulgong,<ref name=nsw/><ref name="OA Fergus Smith">{{cite web |title=Smith, Fergus Jago (1843–1924) |work=Obituaries Australia |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |url=https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/smith-fergus-jago-16088 |access-date=2021-05-19}}</ref> while his obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald gives it as Molong.<ref name="SMH Obituary"/>}} the eldest of 11 children.<ref name="SMH Obituary"/> He attended The King's School in Parramatta, and after a world tour worked on his father's station at Molong and then on another station near Bathurst which he later owned.
==Political career== In 1887 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Free Trade member for West Macquarie. He did not re-contest in 1889. In 1895 he was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220962166 |title=Summons to the Legislative Council |newspaper=New South Wales Government Gazette |issue=528 |date=8 August 1895 |access-date=19 May 2021 |page=5075 |via=Trove}}</ref> where he remained until his death. He was a brother-in-law to fellow politicians Charles Barton and Sir Joseph Innes.<ref name=nsw>{{cite NSW Parliament |title=Mr Fergus Jago Smith (1843-1924) |id=810 |former=Yes |access-date=22 May 2019}}</ref>
==Personal life== Smith married Emily Grace Machattie on 25 January 1866. They had no children,<ref name="SMH Obituary">{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16116277 |title=Obituary Mr F J Smith MLC |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=28 January 1924 |access-date=19 May 2021 |page=10 |via=Trove}}</ref> but adopted a daughter, Violet Kathleen Marion,<ref name="Sun">{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223396397 |title=Wealthy MLC" late Mr F Jago Smith |newspaper=The Sun |date=22 April 1924 |access-date=19 May 2021 |page=10 |via=Trove}}</ref> who married Lieutenant-Colonel Chetwynd Rokeby Alfred Bond, who served in the Indian Staff Corps.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14250539 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=19,281 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 December 1899 |access-date=19 May 2021 |page=1 |via=Trove}}</ref> Smith died at Bathurst on {{death date and age|25 January 1924|8 June 1843|df=y}},<ref name="SMH Obituary"/> and his estate was valued at £76,810.<ref name="Sun"/>
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|au-nsw-la}} {{s-bef|before=Lewis Lloyd}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for West Macquarie | years=1887–1889}} {{s-aft|after=Paddy Crick}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Fergus}} Category:1843 births Category:1924 deaths Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Category:Free Trade Party politicians Category:People educated at The King's School, Parramatta