Robert Henry Smith

Robert Henry Smith (1873-1943) was born on 4th February 1873 in Bermondsey, London to Thomas William Smith (b.1842), an optical glass worker and news agent, and Mary Hersey Smith (b.1851). He was one of at least seven children: Francis L. (b.1871), Mary Hersey (b.1875), Minnie (b.1878), Alfred (b.1880), Victoria E. (b.1883), and Florence (b.1885).

By 1901, Robert was a clerk at a solicitor's firm, as was his sister Mary. His occupation is recorded as painter artist in the 1911 census, so it's evident he switched to painting full-time at some point between these dates. He was living in Lewisham, London, at this time.

Smith moved to Cornwall sometime after 1921 and the 1939 register shows him as 'widowed', so he would have been married before this.

Smith died in Cornwall in 1943 at the age of 70.