Julia Abel Smith

Julia Mary Seton Abel Smith She married Charles Abel Smith, a descendant of the Smith banking family.

She worked for Save Britain's Heritage and as a historical researcher for the Landmark Trust. In 1987, she wrote a report on the deteriorating state of British garden buildings for Save Britain's Heritage, titled Pavilion in Peril; the same and next year, she and the report were cited in several news articles on the condition of follies, including in the New York Times. She also has a career of creating catalogues of art, including a cataloguing project of sculptures in public ownership within Bedfordshire, Essex, and Hertfordshire and Art UK's catalogues of paintings located at the University of Cambridge or in public ownership within Essex. She had come up with the idea after learning about Murray during her research on the Dunmore Pineapple and being inspired by the obscure nature of Murray's history. In her review of The Forbidden Wife for Tatler, Francesca Carington described Abel Smith as "a wonderful storyteller", noting that "her descriptions of late-eighteenth-century Virginia, Rome and London are almost novel-like in colour and detail". She also wrote Augusta's Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article. She was appointed High Sheriff of Essex in 2013, serving until 2014.

As of 2013, she lived in Little Leighs. She also practices cycling as a hobby, having reportedly trained for a long ride from London to Paris.