Vernon Smith

Guy Vernon Smith (15 October 188011 June 1957) was a Church of England clergyman who served as Bishop of Leicester from 1940 to 1953.

Smith was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford. Following in the footsteps of his father, a King's Counsel, Smith was called to the Bar in 1905 but then decided on a career move from Law to the Church of England So began his long association with Arthur Winnington-Ingram, the dynamic Bishop of London. He became Resident Chaplain to the Bishop, and supported the Bishop noted for his jingoistic promotion of British commitment to the Great War. Winnington-Ingram was a renowned preacher who attracted massive publicity, and he toured the Western Front in 1914 with Smith who wrote a book about the visit. Smith himself then served on the Western Front with the Post Office Rifles, distinguishing himself at Bullecourt in June, 1917, winning a Military Cross - the citation for which read:

Smith caught trench nephritis and spent six months in hospital in England. He was, however, fit enough to accompany Winnington-Ingram on a tour of Greece, Salonica, Malta and Rome. Once again, Smith provided admirable support for Winnington-Ingram whose powers were waning and who did not resign until 1939 when he was in his eighties. The new Bishop of London was Geoffrey Fisher who proposed Smith for the vacant see at Leicester. Although Lang regarded Smith as 'old maidish', he supported Smith's candidature, and Smith was appointed to Leicester in 1940. Smith enjoyed a reputation in Leicester as a 'saintly man', 'with a patient pastoral care and administrative wisdom'. He retired in 1953. He has a commemorative plaque in Leicester Cathedral.