Governor-in-Chief of the Isle of Man in the later 1770s and early 1780s.

Smith succeeded John Wood as Governor-in-Chief while Richard Dawson continued to act as Lieutenant-Governor. The surviving correspondence shows that Smith spent significant periods away from the Island, with day-to-day administration often left to Dawson.

His letters nevertheless dealt directly with Manx government. In July 1777 he wrote to the Earl of Suffolk about the customs establishment and proposed changes to its organisation. Other correspondence records his involvement in transmitting Manx legislation and in discussions over the relationship between the Governor, Council, Deemsters and Keys.

Smith also intervened in questions of coinage. In January 1779 he wrote concerning the need for new copper coin for the Island. He explained that Manx governors had previously arranged coinage by contract and asked that the Treasury determine how the new issue should be handled.

The 1792 inquiry later examined Smith’s period in office critically. One account stated that he had arrived as a stranger to Manx manners, laws and customs and had possessed the government only a few weeks when disputes arose over constitutional practice.

Smith’s own 1783 correspondence shows him preparing to return to Mann and asking whether governors were normally favoured with the King’s portrait to carry to their government.