Nathaniel Smith (British politician)

{{Use British English|date=April 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MP}} | office = Member of Parliament for Rochester | alongside = George Best | term_start = 1792 | term_end = 6 May 1794 | predecessor = Richard Bickerton | successor = Richard King | term_start1 = 1784 | term_end1 = 1790 | alongside1 = Charles Middleton | predecessor1 = Robert Gregory | successor1 = Richard Bickerton | birth_place = | birth_date = 1730 | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1794|5|6|1730}} | death_place = | party = Whig | spouse = {{marriage|Hester Dance|1784}} }} '''Nathaniel Smith''' (1730 – 6 May 1794) was a Bombay Marine officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain between 1783 and 1794.

Smith was the posthumous son of naval captain Nathaniel Smith of St Giles-without-Cripplegate and his wife Anne Gould, daughter of James Gould. Smith joined the Bombay Marine of the East India Company (EIC) and was appointed captain of the East Indiaman ''Clinton'' in 1759. In 1765 he transferred to ''Lord Camden''. After six voyages to India he retired in 1771 with a small fortune. He stood for parliament unsuccessfully at Rochester in 1772 and in 1780.<ref name=Brooke>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Taw7DVGrbRcC&pg=PA448 J. Brooke, Lewis Namier ''The House of Commons 1754-1790, Volume 3'']</ref>

Smith wrote three pamphlets on Company rule in India and two on the EIC's shipping problems. He became a director of the company in 1774. In February 1783, Smith was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontefract until he was unseated on petition in April 1783. However he vigorously opposed Fox's East India Bill and was consequently elected chairman of the EIC in November 1783.<ref name=Brooke/>

In 1784 Smith was elected MP for Rochester and held the seat until 1790. He offered guarded support for Warren Hastings in the debate on his impeachment in 1787. He regained the seat in a by-election in 1792<ref>[http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3159939 National Library of Australia - Catalogue]</ref> and held it until his death aged 63 in 1794.<ref>{{Rayment-hc|r|2|date=March 2012}}</ref>

Smith married Hester Dance, daughter of George Dance on 4 December 1784.<ref name=Brooke/> He provided support for his wife's nephew Nathaniel Dance in his dealings with the East India Company.<ref>[http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/GetRecord/SHCOL_4376 Exploring Surrey's past]</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|gb}} {{s-bef|before=William Nedham 4th Viscount Galway}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for Pontefract |with=William Nedham |years=1783}} {{s-aft|after=William Nedham John Smyth}} {{s-bef|before=George Finch-Hatton Robert Gregory}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for Rochester |with=Sir Charles Middleton |years=1784–1790}} {{s-aft|after=George Best Sir Richard Bickerton}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Nathaniel}} Category:1794 deaths Category:1730 births Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Category:British MPs 1780–1784 Category:British MPs 1784–1790 Category:Directors of the British East India Company Category:Bombay Marine officers