Henry Smith

Henry Smith (May 1549 – 3 January 1628) was an English moneylender and philanthropist. His nickname of "Dog" derives from a popular legend that he spent some time as a beggar with a dog as a companion. Smith lent to notable property owners such as Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex and Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset and over time acquired estates of thousands of acres in size. In his will he left money for charitable purposes including for the benefit of the poor in a number of towns and parishes, for the support of his sister's descendants, for the victims of the Barbary slave trade and for the support of clergymen. The trust established by his endowment survives as the Henry Smith Charity, providing grants of tens of millions of pounds annually.

Biography Smith was born in Wandsworth, Surrey, in May 1549, to Walter Smith and his wife, whose maiden name was Wolphe; the family had their origins in Gloucestershire. Henry Smith settled in London where he joined the Worshipful Company of Salters. Further contributions of £1,000 were made to the towns of Reigate and Richmond (the latter never fully realised as it relied on a debt owed to Smith) and £500 to Wandsworth. He also left £10,000 to purchase impropriations of tithes "for the releife and maintenance of godlie preachers and the better furtherance of knowledg and Religion". Again not all of these funds materialised as it was dependent on debts owed to Smith; at least £300 was found for the benefit of clergymen in Dorchester. Rather than grants to victims of Barbary pirates they now support women escaped from sex trafficking. The more than 200 individual parishes named in Smith's will and by his first trustees also continue to receive grants. By 2023, it was providing £47M in grants per year and had net assets of £1.26billion.