Martin Linton Smith, The Times, 9 October 1950; p. 6, "Bishop Linton Smith former Bishop of Rochester" (4 July 1869 – 7 October 1950) was an Anglican bishop who served in three dioceses during the first half of the twentieth century.
Life Smith was born into a clerical family – his father was the Very Revd James Allan Smith, Dean of St David's Cathedral from 1904 until his death in 1918Cathedral web-site He died in post during November 1918.The Times, Saturday, Nov 30, 1918; pg. 11; Issue 41961; col B The Dean Of St. David's.– and educated at Repton and Hertford College, Oxford."Who was Who" 1897–1990 London, A & C Black, 1991 Ordained priest in 1894 he was a curate at four parishes before securing his own incumbency at Colchester in 1902. By now married to Kathleen Dewe with a young family, he gained experience in Liverpool eventually becoming a Cathedral Canon. His finest hour, however, was the First World War where he gained the DSO for his sterling work at The Somme, Arras and Ypres. He had been appointed a Temporary Chaplain to the Forces in April, 1915, serving at first in Prescott before being posted abroad.TNA, WO374/63647 He was also Mentioned in Despatches.The Times,, 2 August 1930, on appointment to Rochester
When peace came he was raised to the episcopate, firstly for two years as the suffragan Bishop of Warrington; then translatedNew Suffragan Bishop. (Official Appointments and Notices) The Times 29 July 1920; p. 12 to the more senior post of diocesan Bishop of Hereford in 1920, serving there for a decade; and, finally, a further nine years as Bishop of Rochester. Retiring to Cheltenham in 1940 he died after a long life "rich in service".
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Works
Lambeth and Reunion: An Interpretation of the Mind of the Lambeth Conference of 1920, with Frank Theodore Woods and Martin Linton Smith (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921).
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