Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead

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Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead ( December 7, 1907 , † June 10, 1975 ) was a British historian.

Smith was born in 1907 as the eldest son of the British politician Frederick Edwin Smith , who was raised to the nobility as 1st Earl of Birkenhead in 1922 due to his services as Attorney General and Cabinet Minister in the governments of Lloyd George and Baldwin . Since then, Smith has held the courtesy title of Viscount Furneaux . The earldom of his father went over to him after his death 1930th

Smith attended Eton and later Christ Church College at Oxford University . From 1938 to 1939, Birkenhead worked as the private secretary to the British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax . During the Second World War he initially served in an anti-tank unit of the British Army. He was later used in a special unit for psychological warfare , including in Croatia .

He also acted as Lord-in-Waiting for King George VI. (1938–40) and Queen Elizabeth II (1952–55).

Smith drew attention primarily through a number of popular biographical works. He wrote biographies about his father, about the British writer Rudyard Kipling , about the statesman Lord Halifax and about Winston Churchill's advisor Professor Lindemann .

Marriage and offspring

In 1935 Smith married Sheila Berry, the second daughter of the 1st Viscount Camrose. The connection resulted in a son in 1936, who succeeded him as 3rd Earl in the title.

Works

  • Frederick Edwin Earl of Birkenhead, 2 vols., 1933 and 1936.
  • FE: The Life of FE Smith, First Earl of Birkenhead, London, 1960.
  • The Official Life of Professor FA Lindemann, 1961.
  • Life of Lord Halifax, 1965.
  • The life of Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, 1969.
  • Rudyard Kipling, 1978.
predecessor Office successor
Frederick Edwin Smith Earl of Birkenhead
1930-1975
Frederick William Robin Smith