Sydney F. Smith

Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 to 22 February 1845) was an English wit, Anglican cleric and author. He was born in Woodford, Essex, England, and was the son of the merchant Robert Smith (1739 to 1827) and Maria Olier (1750 to 1801). His father, described as "a man of restless ingenuity and activity","very clever, odd by nature, but still more odd by design", who at various times owned nineteen estates throughout England. Smith became a scholar of New College, Oxford in 1789 and later received a fellowship. Taking his first degree in 1792 Smith followed with a Master of Arts degree in 1796.