Background
Smith was the sixth son of Benjamin Smith, a London goldsmith, by his wife Susannah, daughter of Apsley Pellatt.
Smith was the sixth son of Benjamin Smith, a London goldsmith, by his wife Susannah, daughter of Apsley Pellatt.
He was educated at Tonbridge School between 1844 and 1850.
In 1851 he became an apprentice to Sir James Paget and in August 1854 he became House Surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He subsequently worked at Street Bartholomew"s Hospital and from 1858 to 1861 Smith was Assistant Surgeon at the Great Northern Hospital. In September 1861, he was elected Assistant Surgeon at Great Ormond Street.
In June 1868 he was appointed Surgeon and in November 1883 he resigned and was made Consulting Surgeon.
Smith served on the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons from 1880 to 1900, having been elected in 1858, and was Vice-President in 1887-1888 and 1890-1891. He became Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria in 1895 in succession to Sir William Savory.
He served as honorary Serjeant-Surgeon to Edward VII from 1901 until his death in 1909. Their eldest son was the surgeon Rudolph Smith.