Career
He was an influential Liberal figure in Manchester politics for many years. Smith was a rubber and cotton factory owner, deputy chairman of Martins Bank (which 23 years after his death with 700 branches was acquired by Barclays Bank) and a director of several railway companies. In 1917 he served as Sheriff of Caernarvonshire.
He was created a Baronet, of Colwyn Bay in the County of Denbigh, in 1912.
In the 1917 Birthday Honours he was raised to the peerage as Baron Colwyn, of Colwyn Bay in the County of Denbigh. In 1924, he was admitted to the Privy Council.
Lord Colwyn married Elizabeth Anne, daughter of Hamilton Savage, in 1882. She died in 1945. Colwyn died in January 1946, aged 87.