Augustus Smith

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Augustus John Smith (1804-1872) was governor of the Isles of Scilly for over thirty years, and was largely responsible for the economy of the islands as it is today.

Smith was born at Ashlyns Hall, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, and went into banking. He became known locally as a philanthropist, doing his best to improve educational standards in his home district. In 1834 he acquired the lease on the Isles of Scilly from the Duchy of Cornwall for £20,000, and set about changing the islanders' way of life, expelling those who could not find a job locally and evacuating some of the smaller islands, where small populations were farming at barely subsistence level.

Smith gave himself the title Lord Proprietor, and, though many of his actions were unpopular, his motives are now generally recognised as having been good ones. Besides building a new quay at Hugh Town on St. Mary's, he sowed gorse and trees to provide shelter for the agricultural land. He built schools on the well-inhabited islands. Having cleared the island of Samson of the one or two families that inhabited it, he attempted to turn it into a deer park, but the experiment failed.

Smith lived at Tresco Abbey. He never married, but is believed to have had illegitimate children by several of his female servants. He had a close relationship with Lady Sophia Tower, a married woman (and only daughter of the 1st Earl Brownlow) who often visited him at Tresco. The estate was inherited by lateral descendants, who retain the lease into the present day.