High Street, Tonbridge,
Kent, TN9 1JP
Sidney Smith came to Tonbridge with his two brothers in 1772 during the headmastership of Vicesimus Knox. Knox is described by Somervell as coming to Tonbridge as ‘a tired man’ and the school failed to flourish to the extent that numbers fell to only seventeen boys. Eight of these were boarders and three of them were the Smith brothers. Incidentally Vicesimus Knox was succeeded by his son, also called Vicesimus, and then his grandson Thomas in a span lasting from 1772-1843. Sidney Smith’s Tonbridge career was not a long one as he entered the Royal Navy at the age of thirteen but it is recorded that his affection for his school was such that many years later he visited Tonbridge and secured for the boys an extra half-holiday.
His naval career was long and distinguished. He fought first in the American Revolutionary War in 1778 and under Admiral Rodney at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent against the French in 1780. He received his first command in 1782 at the age of eighteen. The outbreak of a new war with France in 1793 brought action for Smith at Toulon under Admiral Hood and he was then given command of a frigate, HMS Diamond. In 1796 he was captured at Le Havre and spent two years in the Temple prison in Paris but managed in 1798 to escape and return to England.
He was then sent to the Mediterranean as a captain in command of the Tigre but was also given a military and diplomatic mission to liaise with the Turks, who were trying to repulse Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt. In 1799 Napoleon besieged Acre on the coast of what is now Syria and Smith commanded two ships which were reinforcing the Turkish defences. The guns of the British ships helped repel Napoleon’s assault, who now abandoned his army to sail back to France to seize power. This was the greatest moment of Smith’s career.
Back in England Smith was used mainly in home waters, and he also became MP for Rochester from 1802-6. In 1805 he was promoted Rear Admiral and had further commands in the Mediterranean. By 1810 he was a Vice Admiral and in 1815 he was knighted. As well as his exploits against the French, he also became involved in opposing the slave trade. After the end of the war his sea-going days were over and he moved to France where he died in 1840. His career had spanned some of the most exciting days in British naval history and he is rightly accorded a place of honour as one of those sailors who were instrumental in defeating Napoleon. The most recent biography of him by the renowned naval historian Tom Pocock gives a clue to his character in its title ‘A Thirst for Glory’.