Background
He was the son of Admiral William Henry Smyth and the brother of astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth and geologist Sir Warington Wilkinson Smyth.
He was the son of Admiral William Henry Smyth and the brother of astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth and geologist Sir Warington Wilkinson Smyth.
Bedford School; Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
Born on 25 November 1825 in Westminster and educated at Bedford School, Smyth was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1843. He served in the Crimean War and was present at the Siege of Sevastopol. He became commandant of Woolwich garrison and military district in 1882 and General Officer Commanding the troops in South Africa in 1886.
In 1888 Smyth mustered an army of 2,000 troops and left for Zululand to put down a rebellion there.
He became Governor of Malta in 1890 before retiring in 1893. They had no children.
Smyth died on 18 September 1906 at Stone, Buckinghamshire, and was buried there.