Ann Smith

Ann Smith ( 1682–1686) was an English anti-Catholic political activist. A devout Baptist, she and her family sheltered the rebel 9th Earl of Argyll when he was in hiding in London and fled with him to the Spanish Netherlands in 1683. She lived with her husband in Utrecht and following his death funded Argyll's Rising in Scotland and the contemporaneous Monmouth Rebellion in England. She hosted fellow conspirator Elizabeth Gaunt in Amsterdam and received a royal pardon for her activism in 1686, after which time records of her life cease.

Early life Nothing is known of Ann Smith's early life before 1682. At that time, it was recorded she was married to a prosperous sugar-baker in London and involved in the business, pursuing a debt owed by the nephew of the Spanish ambassador. Together they had at least one child.

Political activism After the Exclusion Crisis ended in 1681, King Charles II cracked down upon religious dissenters and this may have motivated Smith to take political action, since she was a devout Baptist.

Ann Smith also knew Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, who was to lead Argyll's Rising in 1685. This was a failed attempt to unseat the Catholic King James II of England (also James VII of Scotland), which was mainly funded by Smith. He escaped from Edinburgh Castle and fled to London. By 1683, Ann Smith and her husband had also fled to the Netherlands and they were living with Argyll in Utrecht. Together, they visited John Cochrane, another Scottish exile who was living in Cleves. Cochrane joined the conspirators. In addition to her financial support of Argyll, Smith gave £1,000 (equivalent to £ in ) to Monmouth so that he could hire a ship to sail to Lyme Regis. During the religious turmoil of the 1680s, Smith is one of around twelve women (alongside Gaunt) known to have been active in the support of revolutionary politics. She received a royal pardon in 1686 and nothing else is known about her life afterwards.