Smith Child

Admiral Smith Child (1730 – 1813) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, and the French Revolutionary Wars, rising to the rank of admiral. He also established a pottery manufactory in Tunstall, Staffordshire.

Biography Born into a well-to-do family from Audley, Staffordshire, Smith Child entered the Royal Navy in 1747 through a connection between his father (also named Smith Child) and First Lord of the Admiralty George Anson. Serving first aboard , he rose through the ranks, seeing service in the Seven Years' War supporting the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and the Siege of Pondicherry in 1760.

Child was promoted to Vice-Admiral of the Blue in February 1799, but saw no further action. He died in 1813, two years after his son John. As a result, he willed his estate to his grandson, Smith Child. He is buried at St Margaret's Church in Wolstanton. In 1893 a clocktower was erected in Tunstall commemorating his civic contributions.